Slow Steps
by SolarLunar
Summary: Becker needs a flatmate, Jess needs a wedding date and Abby needs a break. When did taking things slowly become so hard? Jess/Becker
1. Chapter 1: An Evening Surprise

**Hello. Blimey, can you believe it's been a whole year since I left poor Jess and Becker as friends in 'Say Something'? Well, I've finally got an idea and the time (sort of) to work on it, so I've decided I couldn't leave them there. **

**However, I TRY TO MAKE SURE ALL MY STORIES CAN BE READ ALONE, so please don't be put off if you haven't done that. Just a quick catch up (though feel free to read 'Say Something' if you haven't already): **

_**Scott, Becker's flatmate, and Jess had started to date, though both to kept it from Becker; Jess wanted to see if Scott was better than Becker and Scott had secrets. When Becker found out, he revealed Scott'd cheated on a past girlfriend, but Jess forgave him. Becker and Scott competed for Jess (though Becker stated he just wanted to protect her from Scott). Though Becker's date was interrupted by a dinosaur, but Scott gave her orange chocolate and it was enough for Jess to return to Becker, though the pair decided they needed time before embarking on anything more.**_

**Phew! I didn't realise so much had happened last time. Anyway, poor Jess and Becker are about to be thrown back into trouble again. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Primeval.**

* * *

Becker had the house to himself. Ok, Scott had been around to pick up some clean clothes, but the only evidence of his presence was the tea mug he left unwashed on the kitchen sideboard. While Becker was in the house, he was on his own.

Jess hadn't been around again. Becker didn't quite know what to make of this, whether he should be offended or indifferent. However, considering the situation would only be worse if she _did_ come over, he decided she was actually making a very wise decision.

His logical side told him not to dwell on the issue, that this was the reason why he hadn't just whisked away straight after she'd returned early from her date with Scott. Returned to him. It was an emotional mess and these sorts of things needed a step back. It needed time. Unfortunately, his mind was obsessing the question of how much time. Damn his mind.

And so, Becker decided to do what he did best. That is, delve into his work as deeply as possible. This provided great hilarity for the evening shift, who were suddenly granted the extra physical presence of their Captain as he worked a little later and a little later and a little later...

They knew it was probably something to do with Jess. Let's face it, when their Captain was acting odd, it was nearly always to do with Jess.

* * *

Jess at work seemed to be settling back down into the old routine well. She just typed, co-ordinated and found various excuses to go down to the security department; this was normal. Also, there'd been no weeping, no overeating, no lavish tattoos... no matter how hard Connor tried when they went past the parlour by the grocery store.

However, Abby found that a newly single Jess took even more time than when in the middle of a relationship crisis. They'd had three film nights, two swimming trips and had a friendly meal and cinema trip. All in about week. On top of that, Jess never seemed to settle in her own company and kept starting conversations that lasted hours at a time.

None of these things were unusual alone, but together Abby realised that Jess seriously needed someone else to take her mind off events. Someone who isn't Abby. Someone from outside their flat and their work.

She was still wondering when one Friday Jess found an envelope for her when she got home. It was a pale violet colour, neatly hand addressed. Jess squealed as she read it.

"What is it?" asked Abby, looking up from cooking the evening meal for the three of them,

"My friend Janet's getting married. That's so sweet. I knew her and Paul from secondary school. They make the most adorable couple – apart from you and Connor, of course." Abby nodded her thanks; she'd hardly call her and Connor adorable, but it was a compliment she was willing to take.

She then stood through a ten minute explanation of how the happy couple flirted during geography, presented roses in the common room on Valentine's Day and shared ice-cream at lunchtime. Eventually, once Jess started on more sugar-coated memories about how she and Janet planned their future weddings together, Abby had to break her reminiscing.

"So... when is it?" she politely questioned, in a bid to avoid being physically sick.

"Not for nine months. They were always so organised. I remember this one time..."

Abby let Jess go on as she took the invite herself so she could avoid having to ask further questions. As she did though, a slip from it fell to the floor. She bent to pick it up and read through it curiously.

"Jess?" she said frowning. "This slip..."

"Isn't it just the reply slip? I didn't really check it." The brunette picked up a towel to dry her hands.

"It is a reply slip, but... Jess, someone's already ticked the 'plus one' box. In pen. And there's a note at the bottom. 'Jess, if you need any help getting a plus one, I can recommend some lovely boys Paul now works with. But you're bringing someone, 'cos you at least have to have a date at what should've been our joint wedding.' Winky face. ' Love Janet. Xx'" Abby half-gasped, half-laughed. Jess' smile fell slightly.

"She didn't. Oh, she always was so meddlesome. I can't believe her." She snatched the piece of paper off Abby and re-read it. "I can't go with someone from Paul's office! It'd be like admitting I can find no-one better. Why did she do that?" Jess got more and more agitated until eventually Abby grabbed her arm.

"Jess! Calm down. Just take Becker."

Jess gasped. "_I can't do that!_" she squeaked.

"I thought you two had practically agreed to go out with each other anyway. After this break."

"No. We merely didn't put a full-stop to the issue. We agreed to be friends and give it time. We need to take things slowly."

Abby felt like hitting her head against a brick wall. Given that Jess hadn't dissolved into depression at the break-up with Scott and things seemed smooth with Becker, she'd felt she'd dodged a bullet, though she also felt it showed there was no bullet in the first place. Her flatmate had never been in love or even remotely attracted to Scott during their two and a half month relationship. Which considering the chaos it had caused was both a relief and so frustrating.

Now it seemed that the emotionally inept Becker had merely knocked one man away to leave a hole, not fill it. As Jess babbled on about how things would work out given _enough_ time, Abby couldn't help feeling that Becker needed a kick.

After all, how was he spending his evening?

* * *

It had started off well. He'd got home about eight, cooked a simple meal, which had turned out nicely and was settling into clearing and tidying the house. It still felt rather empty, but Becker was slowly getting used to Scott's absence.

It was just as he was putting the last dish away that the doorbell went. Becker was immediately alert. The landlord shouldn't be calling and there'd be any salesman around at this hour. Which left...

"Scott," he stated. The other man stood on the doorstep, but Becker didn't really know what to say. Instead, he stood there until Scott coughed awkwardly.

"This is actually my home still too, you know. So, I'm just putting it out there; I'm coming in." He pushed past the Captain, slightly grumpily. Becker shut the door and followed Scott to the living room.

There, the two men glanced each other up and down. For Scott, this was a quick task, as Becker was never going to let himself go to the point of a dirty T-shirt or hair out of place if he could help it. Scott, though, wore a five o'clock shadow and looked generally slightly tired around the eyes and the way he was slumped.

"Guessing you heard what happened," he said eventually. "Never buying girl orange chocolate again." A sad smile flickered across both men's faces. "To think you came back looking like you'd fought a bear and yet my date was worse!" The flat exclamation in his voice told of his frustration. Becker almost winced at the guilt he felt towards his friend.

"Scott, I'm sorry..." the Captain began gently.

"You're sorry?!" Scott suddenly cried. "Becker, everything was going perfectly. Perfectly. And then you ruin it and get the girl! How many dates have you been on with her?"

"None. Scott..."

"Oh I know. You're taking things slowly. Never let anything go faster than a tectonic plate movement. You ripped us apart so you could sit there and do nothing! If you're in love with her, fine. That, I can accept. Just about. But don't stop her seeing someone, seeing me, so you can just wallow in fantasy."

"You weren't right together!" argued Becker.

"No, we were right together. We were right until you told her we weren't. And the cracks seeped in. Do you know why? Girls don't like being told to think twice, because they generally do and there's always something which isn't quite right."

"Jess is better than that."

"Than me?"

"Yes!"

Becker regretted the word as soon as he said it. There was a deadly silence as Scott just glared at him. Finally, the other man just breathed out what Becker knew to be violent anger and concentrated on patient rage instead.

"Your reasons for believing that won't change, will they?" Becker didn't reply. "What happens if I start dating a new girl? Would you tell her?"

Becker tried to fill the air. "If you were happy with the girl, if I was sure you were settled..."

"I _was_ happy. I _was _settled. A good friend would've left it at that. They'd have bitten their reaction and been happy for me. For us. Especially you, the Captain who is so good at not showing a glimmer of emotion."

Becker felt his body clench at the accusation as every fibre of him protested against it, but his mind couldn't put that into words, because putting the feeling into words is what was hard. His jaw tightened and he folded his arms tightly, avoiding Scott's gaze.

Scott knew he'd overstepped a line somewhere. He and Becker were good enough friends before for him to sense the Captain's mood. He drew back and decided to stick with business.

"My brother's flatmate has moved in with his girlfriend, so there's an opening. I'm picking my stuff up over this weekend and will be gone by Monday." Silence. "I can't live with you. You and Jess... there's something there, I'll admit, and I don't want to become the evil guy who constantly undermining it, but equally I can't watch it happen. Sorry."

As Scott left the room, Becker felt more alone than he had done before. He'd lost one of his closest friends and suddenly the house seemed too big for him. Probably because it was.

* * *

**Please review.**


	2. Chapter 2: Joys of Accounting

**Hello. A chapter full of Becker and Jess, though not as together as one might hope I believe. Still, Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Oh, if I owned Primeval, the things I would do... but I don't.**

* * *

Monday lunchtime saw Becker sitting alone in the canteen, scrolling down a list of security codes while munching absent-mindedly on a sandwich. It was the new set for the month and Becker was determined to know they off by heart as soon as he could, and lunch seemed like a good time to start, especially as he was meeting a possible new flatmate that evening.

He'd had a productive weekend, though not in the way he liked. In between helping Scott move all his belongings to the car, he'd posted a few adverts in the local newspaper looking for a flatmate. The house by Sunday afternoon was echoing and bare in many places and there was a large amount of dust in the air, having been thrown up by the movement of stuff that hadn't been touched in years.

It was therefore a relief on Sunday night when a man named Nigel Frost had phoned, asking to meet the following day. Becker readily agreed to the meeting, especially as the man sounded reasonable enough and what more could you ask?

So caught up in his reading, Becker barely noticed when Matt and Connor came to sit by him.

"You got a minute?" Matt interrupted. Becker hid his surprise at their presence and sat up properly, giving his full attention to the team leader. "You couldn't also check over the firewalls, could you? There have been some reports of some new worms in the MI5 systems."

"I heard. I'll make sure our network boosters haven't been tampered with." He glanced over his list, but knew it could wait. He folded up the piece of paper and went to leave.

"You haven't finished eating yet!" exclaimed Connor and the two other men rolled their eyes. Typical of Connor to think of the food first.

"It's the start of the month; I've got a lot of work to do, plus these boosters and a potential flatmate to meet tonight. The sandwich will just have to be lonely," replied Becker, tiredly. Matt looked over him in concern.

"Flatmate moving out?" Becker nodded. "Not going with anyone in the ARC?" Becker frowned. "Easier. And safer."

"I hardly think I can live with someone I'm supposed to order around and Lester has a place already."

"Why don't you just ask Jess?"asked Connor. Becker shook his head. "Why not? Abby and I would be willing to buy her place. It's sooo nice."

"Firstly, I doubt Jess would be willing to sell her place if it's soooo nice." Becker stood up. "Secondly, it's complicated between us, but we're just friends."

"She said you're taking things slowly," put in Matt. Becker frowned at him. Surely, she hadn't been gossiping about everything that had occurred... emotionally between them; she knew he was a private person. "That was her response when she asked me to her friend's wedding in nine months." Becker's eyebrows shot up. A smile graced across Matt's face in amusement. "Just as a friend. She's been asking nearly all the men in the building. Apparently, she's under duress to bring someone, though I was surprised she didn't ask you."

Becker let the unsubtle comments slide, grabbed his things and left the canteen, leaving the pair smirking.

His mind was racing. Ok, they were taking things slowly. And they were just friends at the moment. No need to complicate it any further. That's why he didn't as her to move in with him, as much as he wanted to. And yet somehow, it still hurt that he wasn't the person asked, even as a friend.

He cut that thought process off as he caught sight of her, walking smartly in the opposite direction down the corridor. She smiled as she passed, but no words were exchanged; the corridor was too public for that.

They still hadn't had a proper, deep conversation since _that_ evening; everything had been a couple of friendly sentences here and there. Still, rumours bred from anything more and Becker just wanted a break from them for once.

He hurried on to some attention absorbing work.

* * *

Jess was having a terrible day. She'd assured herself she could easily get a friend from the ARC to go with her, but it seemed no one wanted to get themselves into a potentially awkward situation, in the light of recent events.

Having asked Matt, Connor, Andy the accountant, and Mike, a technician, she'd found herself almost physically pushed out of the security department after enquiring with several soldiers. As Lyons had so eloquently put it, 'no-one wanted to take the Captain's girl, even if the Captain didn't'.

She was getting thoroughly sick of people asking why she didn't just ask Becker.

As she passed him in the corridor though, her heart skipped its usual beat as she found herself smiling at the Captain. He seemed as busy as usual though and rushed on past. Of course. It was the start of the month and he was no doubt rushed off his feet with the new codes, sequences, rotas and drill orders that were typical of the place. He probably had no time to even spare a thought for her.

Maybe she should ask Lester?

* * *

Becker arrived home and just had enough time to put on the kettle when the doorbell went. Chucking his bag on the kitchen worktop, he headed for the door.

Nigel was a short, brown-haired man in a business suit. He looked every bit the man just out the office, with a briefcase in one hand and a set of car keys in the other.

"Mr Becker?" He stretched out a hand.

"Nigel Frost?" Becker accepted the hand and welcomed the other man in. "Make your way through to the kitchen. Would you like some tea?"

"Thanks." They made their way through, Nigel propping his briefcase by a chair as Becker busied himself with getting mugs. "Certainly very handy place to live, Mr Becker."

"People just call me Becker. Technically it's Captain anyway."

"Oh. You're in the military? Whereabouts do you work?" Becker tried not to tense at the question; it was, after all, perfectly reasonable.

"Oh, in the Government. Security. Fairly... boring. You?"

"Jackson and Wills, the accountancy firm. Can't get more boring than that. Security must have its events."

Becker poured the tea, using it as an excuse to not reply for a second. He didn't feel completely at ease with the other man, but then small talk with strangers was hardly his forte and they'd barely met.

They talked for about half an hour, by which time Becker had established one very important thing. Nigel was _boring_. The man was not interested in sports or machines, in fact had no fascination with any animal, vegetable or mineral as far as Becker could tell and had a weak sense of humour. His world seemed to revolve around economics and his work; furthermore, his frequent questions about Becker's meant that the Captain had to remain alert enough to tackle these as the man droned on. Eventually, Becker could stand no more.

"Why don't I give you a tour of the house?" suggested Becker, putting the mugs to one side.

"Of course. We're wasting time." Nigel stood as Becker wondered how he could politely agree without too much feeling.

They began downstairs. Both the sitting room and garden seemed to meet Nigel's bland opinion, though both were currently so neat and bare there was little anybody could say about them.

They therefore moved rapidly upstairs to the bathroom and bedrooms. Becker opened the door to the now spare room.

"This is Sc... the bedroom." He gazed over it. It practically echoed in the emptiness, just a bed, wardrobe and desk portraying its purpose. "Nice... view of the gardens." He wandered over to the window, while Nigel stood, displaying his usual satisfaction, arms folded. He was nodding slowly.

"Yes, it is..." He was interrupted by a ringing downstairs. Becker frowned, not recognising the sound. Nigel, however, grimaced apologetically. "My phone. Do excuse me."

Becker was glad to. As he watched Nigel retreat out the room, Becker breathed out. How could he live with this man? He was just so... bland. People thought Becker obsessed with his job, but his was actually varied and exciting on occasion. Nigel's, frankly, wasn't. At least, Nigel's descriptions didn't make it sound so. But how could he tell the other man that?

He waited, savouring the delay.

After ten minutes, Becker was getting impatient. Surely the man had finished. After fifteen minutes, Becker's curiosity drove him downstairs. As soon as he reached the bottom step, he could tell something was wrong.

"Nigel?" Becker called out. There was no reply as Becker made his way to the kitchen. Nigel's briefcase was gone. Becker growled. Really? Couldn't he have at least have said he had to go? A simple goodbye would've done.

Becker ran his hand through his hair. And froze.

His eyes alighted upon his work bay, still lying on his counter. Only it was open and a few items had been scattered outwards.

Becker dialled Matt as he furiously checked through for anything gone.

'_Becker? What's happening?'_

"My prospective flatmate went through my bag," Becker informed him. The Captain slammed the flap shut as he failed in his search.

'_Found out about the dinosaurs?'_ said Matt, picking up on the serious tone.

"No," Becker replied. "He's taken the security codes."

* * *

**Let's face it, getting a flatmate was never going to be that straight forward. ;-)**

**Please review.**


	3. Chapter 3: Damage Control

**Hello. Oh dear, there seems to be trouble. And all thanks to naughty Nigel as YouHaveLovelyHair has dubbed him. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval. Guess they thought I wouldn't look after it well...**

* * *

"My Head of Security can't keep hold of his own security codes. Still, at least he can do everything else his job requires, like keep his room clean."

Becker found his head dropping down like a chastened child, but he maintained eye contact with the civil servant who sat slumped back in his chair.

"If it's any defence, I doubt anyone could've seen this coming," put in Matt, who was leaning at the side.

"No, of course. A paper with all our security codes on was left in the same room as a stranger. What could be unsafe about that?"

Becker grimaced. "Sorry sir," he said meekly.

It had been a frantic night, with every password changed and several procedures reformulated as the ARC was searched for any signs of a break-in. All attempts to trace 'Nigel Frost' met in dead ends. When Lester had arrived that morning, the place was confirmed as secure, but that didn't let Becker off the hook and the boss had demanded to see him as soon as possible, so Becker was fetched and presented within ten minutes.

As for Becker, he doubted he'd felt more embarrassed in his life than explaining to the night shift what had happened and what they had to do. He owed many a drink.

"Now, are we back to our previous security status?"

"Not quite," admitted Becker before Matt could try to deflect all the attention from him. "From those codes you may be able to figure out which security systems we use, so they'll all have to be changed and reintegrated. I'll get on it straight away."

Lester huffed at this, but accepted it as necessary and the two men was dismissed.

"Are you alright?" asked Matt to the Captain once they were out. Becker raised an eyebrow. "You were awake all night. Even I picked up a few hours. You need a break.

"While someone else clears up the mess I caused?" retorted Becker, then sighed. "Sorry, but I'm not going to relax until I've sorted it all through and at least identified what systems we can change to."

"Hey," said Matt gently. "That's not going to help if there's an anomaly. Just... take a nap or something. I may need you awake."

Becker accepted the statement, but it lay uneasily with him. He headed off for his office, hoping that Matt would think he'd taken the advice while actually researching.

He'd soon designed a new door control, but his eyes began to droop. He shook his head, but the office felt so warm and his mind became fuzzy. The words blurred across the screen, dancing unintelligibly in circles as his head nodded forward...

The phone rang. Becker jolted up. His monitor was on screensaver and the clock had moved on by half an hour. Damn. Hopefully, no-one had come knocking. The phone kept ringing, so, rubbing his eyes, he pulled it out.

"Hello?"

'_Hello,_' came a sultry voice, the smooth smile obvious in the female tone. _'Is that Becker?_'

"Captain Becker. Can I help you?"

'_Captain?_' There came a giggle. '_I'm Corina Morris. I'm calling about your offer of a room. Was wondering if I could... pop by._'

Becker set his mouth to a flat line, but swallowed his anxiety. It wasn't her fault 'Nigel' turned into something worse and he still needed a flatmate, for all its troubles so far.

"Sure. When can you come by?" He paused. "Tonight wouldn't be so good." He just wanted a night off.

'_Then tomorrow? I'm so eager to meet you, Captain, and have a glance around.'_ Becker gulped; something about her voice was intoxicating and the way she rolled the word 'Captain' put Becker on edge.

"Fine. About 7."

'_Perfect. See you then._'

Becker breathed out as she hung up. This time, though, the woman would be subject to fierce background checks before going near his house. And no way would she be allowed to wander around unattended before she'd moved in.

Just then came another knock on the door. Becker glanced at his reflection in the monitor and, happy he didn't look too sleepy still, called the person in.

It was Jess. She came bearing a stack of papers and a very excited grin. Becker immediately sat up straight as she closed the door. Something was up and it wasn't all bad news.

"I've found him," Jess excitedly announced. "Nigel Frost. He was caught on a CCTV camera two blocks away and I was able to dig out a picture on him. I decided to just run it through the internal servers first. And..." She handed over a dossier. "He turned up." Becker leafed through the document, as Jess settled herself onto his desktop. "Lawrence Pullman. According to MI5, he's a thief for whoever pays the highest price."

Becker frowned. "So, can MI5 help us?"

Jess shrugged and got up. "No idea. Lester is onto them already, but you know what it's like getting answers from them." Becker smiled as he remembered the last time they'd demanded a report from the Secret Services. The phone bill was crippling. He felt his body relax as he looked up at Jess.

"Jess... Thank you. That was brilliant. As always." She beamed. "I owe you."

"Well, you can buy me drink," she replied cheerily. There was then a pause as she faltered. "I mean, just as a friend, just as a thank you. Nothing..."

"Jess..." He placed the document to one side; now seemed as good a time as any. "It's fine. We're friends and friends hang out. Get to know one another."

"Of course." She instantly relaxed and the smile returned, to Becker's joy. The hurdle passed, albeit briefly, Becker moved back onto a more pressing issue.

"Look, you're obviously good at the tracking people. You couldn't run a check on Corina Morris, could you? She's just called about the room and I'm meeting her tomorrow. I've got her phone number if that's any help..."

Jess huffed in a good-natured way, but nodded. "Of course. She won't have a secret unturned."

She exited the room before Becker had a chance to protest about the boundaries imposed on this particular search. Once outside, Jess tucked a stray piece of hair and went on her way back to the ADD, happily ignoring the nudges of some of the soldiers. Let them talk; it wasn't true, after all.

Becker had asked for her help and help she was going to give.

* * *

"Jess?" called Abby. "Come on, it's time to go." The blond woman surveyed the ADD screens and frowned. There were pictures of a busty blond woman, pouting at a camera, wearing far too little on top and below. To say the woman was tacky was to put it mildly. "If you're trying to pick out a new style, that isn't it."

Jess huffed and leaned back in her large chair. Her frustration was clear as she bit her lip.

She'd found Corina Morris alright. The woman, aged 22, was completely clean and clear as far as security was concerned, which was a shame as the more Jess read about her, the more she wanted to recommend Becker reject her.

Corina was moving out of her current house after an assault charge was raised against her by her male flatmate's fiancé, though it never went to court. Apparently, she'd been getting a little too cosy with him when there was a fight. The words 'seductress' and 'manipulative' had been used in the police statement though, and Jess was worried for Becker as a friend. Corina looked like the kind of girl who would walk over the Captain's chivalrous nature.

Jess found herself hovering over whether to start digging into the personal life of this woman, which she had no real right to do, or leave it and allow things to pan out as they would in normal life? After all, she trusted Becker to be sensible. Didn't she?

She was shocked that she could call his judgement into question and in the end it steeled her resolve. No, she wouldn't be looking over Becker's shoulder all the time like a jealous little girl. She put her faith in him.

"She's just a potential new flatmate who Becker asked me to check out. And she's clean," she said to Abby, as calmly as she could. "Now, we need to get going."

* * *

The following evening, Corina called in a top that made Becker blush. She lounged around a little while, occasionally rearranging his hair (not on his request) before allowing him to give a tour of the house.

When they got to the spare bedroom, Becker grimaced as she pressed herself against him while looking through the window. While in the bathroom, she seemed to block him in there, leaving little space to escape through. In the kitchen, she dropped her phone and bent over...

"Sorry about that," she said, straightening up. Becker coughed awkwardly. "Anyway, I think this house is _gorgeous_. When can I move in?" Becker paused. "Sorry, I'm being rather... forward." She leaned across the countertop. Becker kept his eyes on hers. "I'm just so eager to be out of my current place. I've been living with my boyfriend, but I found..." She began to well up. "... that he... was in... an affair."

Becker stood across the kitchen dumbfounded. Very quickly, he'd found himself with a sobbing woman on his hands. His gentleman nature forced him to place a hand on her bare arm.

"I was sure he was just about to propose... and... well..." she sniffed again. "Sorry, you must think me _so_ silly. It's just you make me feel very comfortable and it's all so fresh..." She trailed off and looked around. "This place would be a perfect new start..."

Becker felt anything but comfortable, but he swallowed his awkwardness.

"You can have the room," he said cautiously, unsure of the reaction that would get.

Suddenly, he found himself in a very tight hug.

* * *

**Please review and follow. **

**Thanks to **_**all**_** those who have done already – so many (at least, for me). =-)**


	4. Chapter 4: The Ice Queen

**Hello. I thought that there wasn't really enough action, so decided to change that. Well, the ARC is very a busy place. =-) Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval. Much to Becker's relief I should think.**

* * *

Jess was working through working at the ADD as usual. It had been a surprisingly peaceful week, although that also meant that there'd been no news on 'Nigel' or Lawrence as he was actually called. Every lead had drawn a blank, including MI5 who eventually obliged and sent his full file, which wasn't exactly detailed.

Becker had finally finished changing all the systems, a moment marked when the new wristbands were distributed. The expression of relief when he personally handed Jess' hers was obvious, especially as he stuck around for a brief chat, although it stayed firmly on how exactly Connor managed to fuse the lights in the flat the previous evening.

She had enquired after how living with Corina was, and found that she was a woman of great culinary skills and he'd arrived to find cakes freshly baked on their table. However, what concerned Jess was the faint blush she pursued the cross his face. She didn't comment; something obviously embarrassed him and there was no need to dig.

It was inevitable that such peace couldn't last and it was shattered by an anomaly alarm at about 4 o'clock the following Wednesday afternoon. All hands were suddenly on deck, locking devices and car keys as the team scrambled for their equipment.

"It's at a... oh, an ice rink. Sending coordinates now," Jess informed the coms. Becker suddenly appeared at her side.

"Time to get our skates on then," he mused, looking at the map.

Jess smiled. "My Mum always said strap a cushion on to break your fall. There's one in the..."

"Jess, thank you, but I think I can cope," he replied. Jess giggled and the Captain rushed away, aware that he was being teased. It wasn't until he got in an SUV and found Connor and Abby smirking at him that he realised it had happened over the coms.

* * *

The place seemed empty apart from the anomaly, which hovered over the ice. It was moderately large, but remained a distance from the lofty ceiling. As the security spread out around the orb, Becker, Abby and Matt stood on the edge of the ice and watched as Connor did his best to skate without skates towards it. It was soon locked, although not without several tumbles, mainly from Connor, who failed at graceful sliding.

"Come on," said Becker once he realised they were just staring. "We need to check this place." He moved off and the pair followed, making their way around reception and the skate hire. There was no hint of a disturbance. The main area was safe.

"Abby, can you check the ladies'?" suggested Becker as he went to the changing rooms. She nodded as he carefully opened the door, then moved hurriedly inside, gun held high. The true professional, he wouldn't lower his guard until he was sure it was safe.

He scanned the benches and coat hangers, all covered by a hickey team's kit. Nothing moved. He shifted around, Matt heading the other way to skirt the room. There was silence, only there breathing echoing.

"Matt! Becker!" cried Abby, bursting in. "We have an incursion." They straightened, alert. "They are seriously adorable," the blond added. Matt relaxed a little, but Becker barged past to hurry to the ladies'.

Connor was already there, holding a spaniel-sized dinosaur, surrounded by about twenty more.

"Say hello to Microceratops. A whole pack of them!" He was beaming and Becker rolled his eyes. He reached out, but withdrew his hand as the creature tried to nip at his fingers. "He must be hungry..." Becker harrumphed. "Don't worry, they're only herbivores."

"Connor, we need to get them back through," ordered Matt. Connor, though, was too busy fussing over his charge. "CONNOR!" The scientist looked up. "You aren't keeping them. Sid and Nancy cause enough trouble." The team leader turned. "Everyone, grab a Microceratops. Aptly named."

Becker went to grab a dinosaur, but it darted from his hands; these were much quicker than Sid. He tried again, but his target ducked and bolted around his legs, almost causing him to fall.

"Becker!" hissed Abby. "Go in slowly, you're scaring them."

The Captain huffed, but took the advice. He crouched low and then froze for a second. The dinosaurs eyed him, but didn't escape. He gently extended his hands. At first suspicious, a few bold ones came sniffing. Eventually one, emboldened, drew closer. Becker eased his hands around and grasped the creature firmly.

Standing up slowly, he shifted his grip to make the creature more comfortable.

He heard a click.

Looking up, he caught Stevens, a rather new and naive soldier, putting his phone away. He growled and marched smartly away, aiming for the anomaly. Just as he reached the ice, Jess' words came back to haunted him. Gingerly he stepped out onto the ice and slipped and skidded towards the locked orb.

The creature wriggled, causing him to wobble slightly, but he stayed firm, concentrating on his balance until everyone was ready. Matt gave the signal and the anomaly was unlocked. Softly, he knelt down and let go of his Microceratops. The creature chirped and glanced around, confused at the orb.

Becker gave it a slight push towards the anomaly, but the creature was still hesitant until the one Abby had been holding joined it, racing past to the anomaly. Becker's chirped again and hurried after its friend. He was joined by three others and soon the whole flock was heading towards the anomaly.

Becker stood, relieved it seemed to be going so well, when suddenly Stevens cried out. Becker whipped round and saw the younger soldier lose his footing, falling onto the dinosaur he'd been gripping. The dazed creature screeched in alarm, causing all the others to twist their heads, making many fall on the hard, cold surface.

Becker immediately saw the danger as some began to back track.

"Connor, catch that dinosaur," he ordered as he fell into a crouch. He aimed his EMD at the group of Microceratops.

"Becker!" came a horrified cry from Abby, who could barely believe the Captain was threatening to shoot the harmless creatures. Her concern was unfounded though, as Becker let off a shot into a blank piece of ice between him and the Microceratops.

The force sent him reeling backwards and he found himself skimming backwards over the frictionless ice, before colliding with the wall of the rink. Sitting up, he saw the flock hurry back through the anomaly, but Abby and Connor were still hounding the lone incursion, sending it his way. Shoving himself forward, ignoring the pain he felt at the movement, he dived for the dinosaur.

At first he thought he'd missed, but as he skidded forward he felt a soft lump collide with his head. Reaching out, he clung onto it as the pair went sliding onwards. Finally, they slowed to a halt, well before the anomaly.

"IT'S CLOSING!" went up a shout, but Becker was in the worst position to go anywhere.

Suddenly, though there was a breeze past him and Matt came whooshing, picking up the dinosaur before Becker could stop him. The leader skated towards the anomaly and chucked the poor creature back just as the portal closed.

Becker breathed out and relaxed backwards onto the ice. He remained there until a shadow cast across him.

"Becker, are you OK?" asked Abby.

* * *

Becker hissed in pain and Jess removed her hand, causing him to bite back a yelp. She hurriedly replaced her hand, as they made their way up his path to his front door, the Captain leaning heavily on the field co-ordinator.

"Sorry," she said.

"Not your fault," groaned Becker. "In fact, I should've taken your advice; cushions would've helped."

Jess giggled softly as Becker reached for his keys. She gripped the injured man as he adjusted his stance.

When they'd brought him in, she'd been taken aback by just how much the Captain was in pain. Over the coms she'd heard the calls for medical help, but Becker's reassurances that he was 'fine' calmed her nerves, but his grimaces when he stumbled in displayed a different story.

The doctors said that the bruising which covered his back wasn't that serious, but that he should probably lie still for a couple of days; needless to say, that didn't go down well. Jess instantly offered to take him home as everyone else was busy and no-one, including Becker, objected. She rejoiced at the friendliness this portrayed.

Upon entering the house though, Becker suddenly seemed to tense as he heard a creak overhead. Jess frowned, hoping that it wasn't her exasperating his injuries. They gently made their way upstairs, but once they reached the top, Jess could hardly believe her eyes.

Corina was standing there in nothing more than a pair of pants and bra, leaning on her door frame. Becker averted his eyes and Jess blushed furiously and tried to hide behind the Captain.

"Sorry, didn't know you were changing..." murmured Jess.

The blond woman ignored her, but went over to Becker, who coughed awkwardly. "Captain, you've been hurt. Why don't you allow me to... help you?" The blond shook her hair back. "I know some techniques..."

"Corina, this is Jess. She's my..." Becker paused and looked the brunette. "She's my girlfriend." Jess felt a tingle down her spine at the comment, even though she knew Becker was only trying to make a point to Corina. The other woman just sniggered.

"No," she stated. "She's not." She placed a hand on him. "Captain, honey, you needn't be bashful. I can feel something between us. Something real."

"Corina, you're just in rebound from your boyfriend's betrayal..."

"What?!" cried Jess, unable to help her surprise. "She tried to steal someone else's fiancé!"

"HOW DID YOU...?" Corina rounded on her. "YOU LITTLE..."

"You lied," said Becker, anger touching his voice. Corina's features softened as she attempted a different approach.

"Didn't you know, Becker, that you are an extremely handsome man? Certainly well out of reach of this..." she cast a disdainful eye over Jess, "...this silly little thing." Becker folded his arms and met the gaze of Corina. He didn't move a muscle as he calmly spoke.

"Jess?"

"Yes?"

"How do you fancy going on a date tomorrow?"

Jess stuttered and gasped for a breath. The question took her off guard.

"I can't. The electrician is coming and I can't leave it to Connor 'cos he broke it in the first place. And you're meant to resting your back."

Becker hadn't turned, but his hands had tightened and Corina was staring at her in disbelief.

"Sometime in the next week then? Or when my back isn't stabbing me in the... back."

"Yes, of course," she said breathlessly.

The effect was immediate. Becker let out a sigh, while Corina turned red. For a minute Jess worried the other woman would transform into an evil troll, revealing her true powers. She didn't, but even Becker took a step back as Corina bared down on him.

"YOU WOULD TAKE THAT FOOLISH TART OVER ME!" she screeched. Jess gasped and went to defend herself, but Becker beat her to it.

"Get out," he growled. Corina gaped.

"Becker... honey..."

"You've been trying flirting all week, despite my requests. You lied and insulted my girlfriend, and yes, she's my girlfriend. Tomorrow morning I want your bags packed and you to be leaving."

Corina went purple, but she bit back her anger and stormed back into her room. Jess and Becker just stood there, neither sure what to say next.

* * *

**Hope many people are pleased with this development. **

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5: I Owe You

**Hello. So, Becker has asked Jess out on a date! Who knew that would happen? Pretty sure he didn't. But after a productive chapter, time for reflection/panic. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval. Pity really.**

* * *

Abby set the mug down on the countertop and sat opposite Jess, who was fidgeting.

After Corina had exited, Becker and Jess barely knew what to do. Neither wanted to say a word, Jess because she didn't know if Becker was being serious about the date and Becker because he felt incredibly humiliated by Corina's outburst and his own assertions. He was completely against his character and he didn't know if this was a positive step or whether he had just emotionally blackmailed Jess into a date.

They thus did what every adult does in the situation. Awkwardly say goodbye and shuffle in the opposite direction. While this was a natural reaction, Jess came home with so many questions on what position she was now in, a lengthy conversation with Abby was inevitable.

"It's thrown us out of sync completely!" she moaned as Abby sipped her cocoa. "I mean, I do want him to ask me out, he knows that. But now I don't know whether he has or he hasn't, or whether I'm his girlfriend or it was all one big sham for that horrible, horrible Corina. Knew she was trouble," she muttered.

"Look, why don't you ask him?" suggested Abby.

"I can't do that!" Jess cried.

'Of course you can't,' thought Abby. She gently put her mug down and reached across the counter. "Why not?" she huffed. "I mean, he must surely realise there could be some confusion. If he'd have done it with me, that would've been fine, but he would've probably turned and thank me for playing along. The fact he didn't suggests he felt there was something real in it all. Ergo, you can ask him."

"But that's ridiculous. You don't just go up to someone and ask 'by the way, did you ask me out?' It's just not done." She swallowed a mouthful of drink. "Look, maybe I should just wait and see if he gives me more details about a date."

"When is anything between you two even normally done," muttered Abby.

"What?" said Jess, failing to hear.

"Nothing," the blond hurriedly. "But you can't just wait. The chemistry between should change if he's asked you out, so if you act like nothing happened, he'll think you _did_ just think it was a rouse and be too embarrassed to set up an actual date."

"But I can't act like we are going out if he thinks we're not."

"So ask him!" exclaimed Abby.

Just then Jess' phone went out. She reached out and flicked her finger across the screen, then gasped. She looked up at Abby like a rabbit in the headlights.

"It's from Becker!" she said. Abby stood up to come round the counter.

"What does it say?"

"I don't know. I haven't opened it." Abby groaned. "But what if it's that 'thank you' you talked about? The one for playing along." The brunette stared at her phone in two minds.

"Jess, just open the message. Otherwise, you'll be wondering about what it could say and you _really_ won't know where you stand." Jess, though, just bit her lip and let her finger hover over the 'read' button. Eventually, after what seemed to Abby like five minutes, she pressed it.

She squealed again and held it in front of Abby's face.

_I owe you a date. B_

Abby couldn't help but grin. Becker, it seemed, had, just for once, decided to communicate and do something, rather than let the pair lapse into complete confusion. The blond watched as Jess struggled for words in her disbelief.

If it wouldn't make things a whole lot crazier and weirder, Abby felt like she could kiss Becker right now.

* * *

The following morning, Becker woke to the sounds of voices outside his room. Listening, he could pick out Corina's moody grumblings, along with another woman's patient reassurances; more than once Becker heard himself being referred to as an idiot. The previous evening's memories came flooding back

He rolled over and instantly regretted the move. His back fired up in the most excruciating ache and he felt, much to his mortification, a tear seep out of his closed eyes. He bit his lip and forced himself to sit up in the bed. Under his door, he could see feet charging about as Corina hefted boxes from her room downstairs.

Good riddance as far as he was concerned. Last night, as he lay trying to get to sleep on his sore back, Becker ran Corina's personality through his mind and realised that she was almost definitely the same kind of girl as one he'd naively dated in the past. His bank balance had taken a while to recover from that one; he wasn't stupid, he just didn't know better. It was what led him to send the text to Jess. He knew her to be genuine, he knew she'd be confused by the events and there seemed to be little to profit from retracting the offer; in fact, it would only make things worse.

There was a crash outside. He groaned and glanced at his clock. 7.55. He had slept in a little, but now he knew he had really get going. The doctors may say he wasn't fit to work, but he was sure he could sit at his desk and get on with something.

Easing out of bed, he stumbled to his chair. Event the few paces set his back on fire. There was another bump. Grabbing a clean T-shirt (thankfully he was by his wardrobe), he pulled it on and prepared to get up again. This time, he staggered upward and managed to straighten himself out. Forcing the grimace from his face, he opened his door.

"...and what's more, she was just so know-it-all. You know, one of those girls who... Captain Becker." Corina put her box down and placed her hands on her hips. "Come to apologise?" Becker surveyed the jumble of items.

"No." He wove his way through the debris and made his way into the bathroom, where he pulled out a few painkillers. Swallowing them quickly, he heard a quiet knock on the door, which he cautiously opened.

Standing outside was Corina's friend, a small red head with a kind and rather worn out expression. Corina had left to the car.

"Hello. You must be Captain Becker," she said, smiling. Becker nodded. "I'm Charlotte, Corina's friend. She can be a bit much, but I swear she's not a bad person really..."

"I'm not letting her stay," he interrupted. "I don't know what she's told you, but honestly, I don't think I can see her away quickly enough."

The friend shook her head. "That's not it. I'm not blinded to her faults and I know that sometimes she can be slightly..." She searched for a word.

"Self-centred. Manipulative. Scheming."

"You said it," the red head sniggered. She shook her head. "I swear her heart is normally in the right place, but anyway, I'm going off track. I have a friend needs a place. Really lovely bloke, quite the opposite to Corina, but I think you'd get along." The girl pulled out a slip with a number on. "He'll move in as soon as you feel ready."

Becker accepted the number and the girl smiled then turned as Corina came charging up the stairs. Becker hastily retreated back into the bathroom. Placing the number on the shelf, he made a mental note to call the person later; after all, at least this one came with a personality recommendation.

* * *

"Becker!" Lester cried. "If I wanted to employ the hunch-back of Notre Dame, I'd get Connor to give Sid a piggy back all day." The civil servant tapped his foot as Becker slowly turned on the spot, wincing once or thrice.

"I'm fine to come in. I'll just stick to the paperwork for today," the Captain responded.

"For you to stick to paperwork requires a leg to be missing... maybe even two! I'm not having an injured captain in the field. Do you have to any idea what that does to our insurance?! And don't get me started on the health and safety..."

Becker frowned. "I'm the ARC, not out chasing dinosaurs."

Unfortunately for Becker just at that moment a cry of 'REX!' went up and a familiar form came fluttering out the lab. Lester ducked and the creature soared overhead, but Becker's attempt didn't go so well. As he went down, his spine jarred and he was a sitting target for Rex, who marvelled straight into him. The pair lay sprawled on the floor as Becker's back burned.

Abby rushed past Lester and hurriedly grabbed the dazed animal, before Lester wandered casually over.

"Ah yes, because there no hazards in the ARC," he mused.

Becker groaned as he lay completely immobile.

* * *

Becker groaned again as he lay on the sofa. Matt had taken him back, Lester ordering the team leader to make it quite clear that disobeying doctor's orders would only ever end in humiliation. He was also banned from duty until Monday.

He was already sick of daytime TV, but he was bound to his sofa with all books out of his reach, so there was little else he could do. There wasn't even anybody to talk to. He needed a flatmate.

On that though, he remembered the slip of paper given to him earlier. Pulling it out, he read the number and quickly dialled, fiddling with the paper.

Henry Clarence. Sounded like a reasonable man.

* * *

**Please review. Even though I know it's a slower chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Clean Slate

**Hello. So, first of all, thanks to the two anonymous reviewers who commented, as I can't PM you.  
Secondly, can Jess and Becker have some peace at last now he's agreed to the date? Well... Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Priemvel. Priemal. Privemal. Primeval. Or any typing skills, it seems.**

* * *

Henry was helpful. He was incredibly understanding when he came round the following morning and had to show himself around. He then didn't ask for any help when shifting his equipment that Saturday and took care of ordering the pair a takeaway. The gratitude he had for Henry was therefore inexorably increased, especially as he found himself becoming quite irritable so cooped up.

Becker was mood was not improved by his having to raincheck his date with Jess, with whom he now really owed; she'd been keeping him updated of everything going on at the ARC and, more importantly, sent a set of paperwork for Becker to work through on the quiet. He knew that he would've gone mad without the distraction and he knew she knew.

That said he could never bring himself to text anything more than simple thank you. Wednesday evening's events had taken him a little by surprise and now worried he'd crossed a line. Was it still too soon? Certainly if he'd deliberated his steps, he wouldn't have been so rash; it wasn't like him.

Not that a rather large part of him wasn't looking forward to it, but nerves were kicking in and without his full workload there was nothing to prevent his mind from wandering every time he gazed at the blank forms.

He returned that Monday, back recovered enough to allow him move with relative ease, though eh knew it would a few days before he was back to full form. His joy at this was somewhat dampened, though, when Connor came in, wearing the smile of someone who knew too much. It got worse when he opened his mouth.

"So, I've heard you and Jess were picking things up again."

"What do you mean again? Besides, how do you... Abby." The Captain sighed; could nothing be private in this place?

"Well, it's your second date?"

"That wasn't a date, that was me trying to advise her against getting involved with Scott."

Connor smirked. "Sounded like a date at the time."

"Well, you heard wrong, didn't you?"

Connor raised his eyebrows. Even now it seemed that the Captain was on a different page to everyone else still.

* * *

Later, that day, Jess came down in search of the paperwork she had forwarded. Her appearances prompted several nudges from the security, but she held her head high as she entered his office and collected the work, which Becker was happy to hand over to her, fully completed.

Just as she went to leave, he cleared his throat. She turned.

"Erm... so are you free Thursday?" Jess blushed wildly. "I mean, if you're still up for it." He paused. "I don't mean like... up for it in _that_ sense. I meant still wanted to go on a date, respectfully and..."

"That would be perfect," replied Jess, coming to his rescue. She giggled as he breathed a sigh of relief."Come on, it's not like it's the first date, right?"

"It isn't?" he responded, surprised. "I thought we were... starting over." He knew he sounded terribly desperate. Hopeful that his previous mistakes had been wiped from the plate.

Jess didn't quite know how to respond, but where heart melted at the sight of Becker staring up from his desk at her and, frankly, she was eager to wash over her past as well.

"Of course," she agreed. "After all, it was barely a date... I mean, what with the dinosaur and... everything else going on."

Becker nodded and allowed Jess to escape his office. He sat back in his chair, suddenly lacking in confidence. Jess may have agreed to begin again clean, but it was clear that the past still played upon her mind. Did that they weren't ready, that they were going too fast? That they weren't over everything that had happened?

He knew people had been talking, that they couldn't see why the pair weren't practically married already. But Becker felt they didn't appreciate just how hard it was to actually be involved. He scratched his head. Somehow he didn't think a quick burger a retail park would cut it.

* * *

Early Thursday evening, Becker led her to a little secluded spot surrounded by trees. It overlooked a settlement where the lights were just starting to twinkle with the twilight. Jess sat on the car bonnet as Becker grabbed a bottle of wine from the boot.

"Do you like it?" he asked, though as a friend asking a question, not a boy worried he'd upset his date.

"I love it," she murmured. Becker smiled as he sat down beside her. "It so beautiful and peaceful."

"That's the point," he replied. She looked at him curiously. "What with everything that has gone on, and I don't just mean between us, I mean what with the ARC and 'Nigel' and Connor and Abby returning, I just thought that a calm night together was best. Just to actually get to know each other. Work isn't the ideal place, not with dinosaurs appearing every minute..."

"Or Connor," joked Jess. Becker smiled.

"He does seem to have a nac for trouble doesn't he? You know the first time I met him..." The evening slipped away, as Jess persuaded Becker to get a map out so they could identify faint horizons and with chat of family and fashion (Becker humoured her) and cars (Jess humoured him) and it wasn't until Jess' stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten that day by very gracefully gurgling that Becker slipped off the bonnet.

"Come on. I've booked a restaurant around the corner. A better one than last time." As soon as he said the words, he regretted them; he shouldn't be bringing it up. Jess, though, was perfectly happy to let the comment slide, so he grabbed the nearly empty bottle, and went to put it in the boot.

It was while he was round there that he heard a startled squeal and a thud. He straightened sharply.

"Jess," he called out cautiously, moving around the car. He gasped and rushed to the side of the crumpled woman, who was trying to sit up, wincing.

"I slipped," she said pitifully. He tried to pull her up, but she hissed painfully. "My ankle..." Becker knelt down and gently checked the spot she was grasping. He sighed as he realised the problem.

"You've sprained it." He carefully replaced a fallen hair behind her ear. "Come on, you need an ice pack." He put his hand down, frowned, but dismissed the thought.

"There'll be one at this restaurant, right?" suggested Jess. Fear was running through her spine that he'd insist on taking her home, but thankfully he nodded.

"Are you OK to walk though?" asked Becker. "It's just around the corner but those heels don't look like most practical things." Jess giggled but winced as she stood up slowly with the support of Becker.

He placed an arm around the waist; Jess felt a little faint, but she hoped it was more to do with his grip on her than anything rational. On Becker's part, he desperately tried to remain on task as he helped Jess, but the tickle in his ear of her breath was undeniably distracting.

Their arrival did raise the waiter's eyebrows as he hurried off to get some ice. He returned within minutes, catching Becker unawares as the Captain surveyed the busy restaurant, looking for the table he booked.

"I'm afraid we're full, sir," commented the waiter as he caught Becker's wandering eye.

"No, I have a reservation. In the name of Becker." The waiter frowned and went to his books. After leafing through a couple of pages, he shook his head.

"Sorry sir, but there's no reservation in that name." Jess' heart fell and Becker became agitated; this was not going as he planned.

"What? No. I booked with a woman... Kelly, I think his name was, on Monday."

"Ah..." The waiter bit his lip and blushed slightly. "Kelly is the manager's fourteen year old daughter." Becker raised an eyebrow. "She's been known to answer the phone before and... forget to write it down." He sighed. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid there's no room."

* * *

Malcolm was sick of the ADD room. He'd been there for over three hours and everybody had seemed to have disappeared, not that it was ever that busy anyway by now. He tapped his fingers across the keyboard, typing up his observations on new anomaly readings, though he was sure no-one ever would read it; after all, he was such a minor scientist that he was often placed on the graveyard shift with the ADD. He wouldn't call himself the most social person ever, but even he found 1 am in the ARC, with all its dinosaurs, creepy.

And what's more, whenever something happened, Jess would come rushing in, determined to take all the fun away from him. Seriously, did they not trust him to shout a few coordinates down a phone line?

There was a bump. The echo of it was marked in the silence. Malcolm swung around, the chair creaking faintly.

"Hello?" he called out into the dimness of the corridors. There was no response. He slowly got up, grabbing his phone and a clipboard, the only weapon he could find which he could plausibly deny being scared with.

Edging away from the safety of the ADD, he moved forwards.

"Hello?"

There was a movement as one of the lab doors eased shut, seemingly in the breeze and Malcolm knew it had been shut before. His instincts immediately put his senses on alert. He grabbed his phone.

"Charlie," he whispered to the man on duty at the front barrier. "Should anyone be down here, in the ADD room?" Over the phone there was the shuffling of someone moving heavy duty boots off a desk; when the Captain wasn't in...

'_No, everyone's watching the recording of some lecture Becker gave earlier. Why? Shadows jumping around are they?'_ Malcolm bit his tongue against an angry retort; he didn't like the fact that some of the security seemed to think that, as a scientist, his fears were from his imagination.

"I'm being serious, there's someone down here. Could you just, you know, get off your rear end and check it out? You know, like your job says you should." There was a heavy huff at the end of the phone as Charlie roughly got up.

Two minutes later, the soldier joined Malcolm at the door of the lab. Charlie bustled past him, unhappy about having his Sudoku disturbed. He barged into the lab and almost immediately went hurtling to the floor as someone charged into him. He rolled, instinctively trying to grab his opponent as he crushed the man under him.

Charlie grabbed hold of the man's arms, pinning them to the floor, but the man twisted and Charlie struggled to keep him down.

Suddenly, the man brought his knee up to a place on Charlie's body which made the soldier's eyes water. Charlie loosened his grip, just for a second, but it was enough and the man hooked his leg around, bringing Charlie toppling off him. An elbow in his stomach caused Charlie to let go and the other man scrambled to his feet to escape.

And was instantly slammed backwards, falling backwards, his head cracking on the solid surface. He was out cold.

Malcolm looked down at Charlie. Who knew clipboards could be so vicious?

* * *

**Please review! If just to say whether you like Becker's date plan. **


	7. Chapter 7: Better

**Hello. So, it was a bad start for Becker and Jess, so can it get any better? Because you can always turn it around. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or any affiliated stuff. Basically, I'm saying I don't own an ARC.**

* * *

"I'm really sorry."

"It's not your fault." Jess bit her lip as she took in Becker's disappointed expression. "Let's face it, I fell on my own and that restaurant did look nice if they'd only been half competent." Becker grunted. "How about we pick up a take away and go back to that spot?" The Captain paused as he judged the plan, then smiled.

"You're brilliant, you know that right?"

"Of course." She smiled back.

They found a chip shop nearby and settled on an order. Becker handed over his card to the greasy teenager slumped behind the counter. Becker keyed in his PIN and turned to Jess, but his attention was called again when the machine beeped.

"Sorry mate. Credit limits is reached. No good."

"Must have keyed it in wrong." But the second attempt met with the same result.

"Don't worry. I'll pay," Jess reassured him and reached around.

He stared at the card. "I don't understand. I barely ever use this card. The last time I used it..." His mind flew back to Henry ordering the takeaway. Online. He handed his card over thankfully enough, but it now struck him that he didn't get his card back until later... much later. Until he questioned where it was earlier that day. Henry had brushed it off as forgetfully leaving it by the computer, which is where it was.

He felt like kicking himself in the head. How could he be so naive? And now he'd left Henry in his home alone.

"Problem?" asked Jess as she turned back. "Don't worry. You probably just forgot..."

"There's a credit fraudster in my house," he said flatly. Jess' mouth stop in an O shape, but she had the sense to remain silent. Becker breathed in. "But he'll be there when I get back, I guess." He paused. "Although, he'll have realised I'm using it this evening and will find out it won't work. So he'll cut and run tonight." He sighed and leant against the wall.

"We'll go back. We might surprise him by turning up this early." Jess placed a hand on his arm. "We'll catch him, then eat the food."

"This is meant to be a date!" he cried angrily. "How is it that we can't even manage a date without everything going wrong?!" He shrugged off her hand and resolutely avoided her gaze. There was no denying it; they had to go back to his house. It wasn't the romantic evening he'd planned. Maybe it was just as well to draw it to a close.

They grabbed the food and went despondently back to the car. Neither said a word.

* * *

"Well?"

"Well what? It's him." Banks folded his arms as he surveyed Charlie Bagshaw, who was leaning against the cell door, a few scratches from his fight displayed on his arms. "We've need to inform Lester and Matt and you straight away so you lot can deal with it."

"And Becker," Banks reminded the other soldier. There was a pause. "What? He'll want to know. Bit of relief to him." Another pause. "_What?"_

"Well, see, while you were coming in, me and the lads were talking..." Sergeant Banks didn't like where this was going. "He's on a date with Jess."

"He's still on call!"

"Yeah, but it's taken him months to finally get round to asking her out. We don't particularly want to disturb him. It'll probably just cause more confusion and some arguments and before you know it, we're ferrying paperwork between them again. Last time Connor brought in his skateboard he was so tired of walking back and forth."

Banks growled and felt like hitting his head repeatedly against a wall. Why couldn't their Captain just deal with women in a normal way? Banks didn't personally know what that way was, but it sure as Hell wasn't the weird technique Becker employed. He stared at Charlie with daggers.

"We are _not_ a dating agency. Frankly, if this date is interrupted, then he can plan another one, but he needs to know what's going on. I'm not keeping him in the dark on business. So go phone him." Charlie stood his ground a second, but Banks upped the stare to 9mm bullet rounds, so the subordinate was forced to scamper off.

* * *

Jess was indeed correct in her assumption that an early arrival would catch Henry unawares. The other man was at the doorway, locking up whilst holding Becker's lamp in under his arm. Distracted, he didn't see Jess and Becker pull up until Becker was already out of the car. The heavy footsteps alerted him though and he turned to see the danger approaching.

Dropping his keys and the lamp, Henry started to sprint down the pathway, then onto the piece of lawn that served as Becker's front garden. Becker adjusted his trajectory to intercept, a move he was well trained for.

In the end, Henry didn't stand a chance. And indeed he didn't, as he went hurtling to the hard concrete of the pavement. Becker fell awkwardly on top of him, crying out in pain as his sore back protested at the punishment.

For a second Henry scrabbled, trying to dislodge the Captain, but he was put in his place when a green heel was placed in his direct eyeline. Jess looked down at the two men and gently put the point of said heel between the blades of Henry's back, allowing Becker to move back in order to secure the man properly.

Once inside again, Becker sat across the table from Henry. The other man shivered as he was fixed by the harsh stare he was receiving. He was now tied securely to his chair.

"Let me go," he grunted. Becker just looked at him. "Come on, I'll give you the money back. And your stuff."

"We should call the police," suggested Jess. Becker rubbed the back of his head; it had been a disastrous evening and he didn't particularly want to deal with the police that night. And yet it seemed he must.

"No!" Henry protested.

The conversation was cut short by Becker's mobile ringing. The Captain groaned. Not an anomaly. Not right now.

'_Becker, we need you to come in.'_ Matt sounded serious enough.

"Ok, but do you mind if I bring a visitor?"

' _Who?'_

"It turns out my new flatmate is a credit fraudster. And a thief, judging by the lack of belongings in my room at the moment." He sighed; the boxes Henry had been so willing to carry in by himself turned out to be empty, ready to be filled with nearly everything in Becker's house. He had to give Henry credit, the man was thorough in his planning.

'_You pick 'em, mate.'_

"What's that supposed to mean?"

'_Lawrence Pullman has just broken into the ARC. Caught red-handed. Lester isn't happy, not least because we're one clipboard less.'_

'_It's a blatant waste of stationary,' _came a floating background voice. Matt paused for a second to check for follow up.

'_Right, so can you come down and help out? Only Lawrence isn't being too forthcoming with facts. Maybe your fraudster knows more.'_

"You think they're linked?" Becker lowered his voice as he glanced at Henry. It would be comforting to know he wasn't just rubbish at picking flatmates, but was being targeted; it reflected less on his judgement. "Look, I'll be there as soon as I can."

Becker closed his phone and looked at Jess, who was standing picking at microwaved chips. Her clothes were still immaculate, but her hair had slipped a little, stray locks falling about her face in a haphazard way. She'd heard the phone call though, and was already slipping her feet back into the heels which sat neatly at the base of her stool.

"They've picked up Lawrence. Do you want a lift home?"

"No, I should be there too."

"It's not your area."

"I know the most about him through my research. He is my area."

Becker sighed and looked over to Henry. "Come on." He bent to untie the other man, then retied the knots as a handcuff. Gingerly, Henry got up, aware that he was not being taken to the police and subsequently dreading his actual destination.

They arrived there in twenty minutes, the roads nearly clear at this hour. Although it was only eleven. Becker felt it was a lot later.

There were many knowing looks between the soldiers as Jess entered with him, but the Captain ignored them all, grumpily making his way to the interview rooms. He hated them enough, being where he'd had to explain his actions before the ARC was reopened. They reminded him of the loss he'd had to endure.

And to think he was ending a first date here.

Just as he approached Matt, who was waiting outside, Jess caught his arm, pulling him up.

"I'll go dig out any files on Henry. See if there's a link between him and Lawrence."

"Jess, you don't have to do that now."

"Well, I'm here aren't I? May as well make myself useful to you. Then you'll owe me a drink for next time."

"Next time?"

"Well, it wasn't much of a first date. Thought maybe we could try again?" she asked hopefully.

Becker took her in for a second before shaking his head. Jess' optimistic smile faltered, then fell completely as he looked up, a grim expression on his face.

"For the third time? No." He looked her deep in the eye. "I planned an entire date thinking the only thing that could make it go wrong was an anomaly. There isn't one and yet here we are. You're hungry, your ankle is hurt..."

"I slipped!" protested Jess. "Accidently."

"On the wine I bought you. I felt the ground; it was slick with the stuff. You were pouring it away, so you wouldn't offend me, weren't you?" Jess' face was a picture of guilt and Becker knew instantly his suspicions were confirmed. "Let's face it, this whole thing... it's a terrible idea. I don't know you well enough and all that happens when we plan an evening is this place gets in the way. All because I can't keep a piece of paper safe, buy the right wine, book a restaurant or get a decent flatmate. You are getting dragged into my mistakes and _you_ deserve better!"

He pulled his arm away from her grasp, making for Matt, who let Becker inside the room while watching Jess carefully. The brunette stood there for a minute stunned, desperately trying to fight tears.

In the end she went to the ADD to find a job to distract her for the rest of the night.

* * *

**Soooo... how much grief will I get for this?**

**Please review... or they might not get back together again (yes, that's emotional blackmail – sorry).**


	8. Chapter 8: The Morning After

** , after the surprise of last chapter (and thank you to all the lovely reviews I've had since then), I believe there are many explanations to be had. Enjoy!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval. Or a time machine, which right now, I really need.**

* * *

Abby woke the next morning with five messages on her phone. All were from Jess. Without reading them, the blond leapt out of bed, dislodging a sleepy Connor as she went, and dashed around to the other bedroom.

The bed was bare and perfectly made. It hadn't, however, been slept in. Abby felt a pang of panic. The thought of Becker and Jess... Abby instantly dismissed it; it had taken the pair months to get to the first date, it was unlikely they'd been foolhardy enough, or bold enough, to do that.

Abby flicked through her phone. Her eyes widened. No restaurant, Henry was a fraud, Lawrence Pullman had been caught, Becker had broken up with her, she was staying at the ARC overnight, Connor was not to use the toaster...

Becker had broken up with her?! Abby scrolled back to the message and reread it in disbelief. How could he be such a fool? Just when Abby thought he was finally recognising the potential between him and Jess, he had to do this! She felt like smacking him.

* * *

She smacked him.

Becker recoiled in surprise, though he guessed what it was for and once he recovered he just looked Abby in the eye.

"Abby..."

"You're an idiot," she stated. He bit his lip. "And, I think, you know it." She sighed as she took in the Captain's reserved, yet grim, expression. "What happened? And if it was just you were tired and overemotional, then that was cruel. Jess is..."

"Jess is better off without me. Abby, Scott managed to take her on two months of dates before anything mucked it up. Before I mucked it up."

Abby frowned. "She works in this place too. Why is it your fault if...?" She paused. "You're scared, aren't you? That it won't be the anomalies or dinosaurs or spies which cause any problems, but you. Because Scott managed to make her seem happy and you don't think you can do the same." Becker said nothing. "Becker, there is no-one who can make..."

"Abby, leave it. You are not Jess and you are not me." He turned to go, but changed his mind at the last second and came back. "And neither is anyone else. They complain I'm being slow, but look what happens when I do try and act. It ends in disaster and that's how people get hurt."

"But it's not your fault..."

"Enough, Abby." The Captain left, this time for good. Abby stayed where she was for a minute, but she was struggling to find an answer. Becker had come out of his shell, but had almost immediately been scared back in.

"Abby!" Matt came jogging up to her. He stopped short of her, frowning. "Something wrong?" Abby nodded, then smirked, realising that Matt was probably worried about one of the pet dinosaur having a highly contagious disease or an anomaly in the middle of a school. Instead all she could reply was:

"Becker and Jess."

Matt let out the slightest of breathes of relief, but nodded in understanding; he'd heard all about the break-up; there were very few people in the ARC who hadn't, being one of the hot topics of gossip this... decade really. Not since Nancy had been apparently shooting romantic glances at an Archaeoceratops had there been so much controversy over relationships.

"It'll work out. I think Becker is just a little stressed out right now, what with Lawrence and his back and trying to find a flatmate. He's overloading, but he'll get there."

"Mmm," agreed Abby absently. "Know anybody who needs a place?" Matt laughed briefly, but shook his head. "We need to give him someone, else, given his luck, he'll go through it all again with the next person."

"Abby, I think he needs a break. I mean, he's had a different person in his house every week it seems." Matt hesitated. "Although, he was rewriting an advert earlier." He sighed. "We shouldn't get involved; it's not our place and I don't think he likes people messing about in his personal affairs. Give him one more chance with that advert, then, if that goes wrong, we'll take it from there, yeah?"

Abby nodded, then smiled. It was reassuring to know that if anything went wrong in her life, there were people out there looking out for her, as they were for Becker. And sensible people too; she trusted Matt's calm judgement. But they were here to work.

"Got anywhere with Lawrence?" she asked, switching the topic to one actually work related; Lester would be proud. Matt's face settled back into his professional persona and he started to walk with her back towards the menagerie.

"Yes. And what's more, it's a helpful development."

* * *

Jess sat at the ADD running the phone number they'd found on Lawrence through the files stored away. As soon as it was dug out of his trouser pocket, it had been rushed to her by a member of security, who stated that Jess 'was the best person for the job' when it came to finding people.

The faith boosted her confidence, which had ebbed to a little bit of low following Becker's dismissal. She pushed the Captain from her thoughts. She had to concentrate on the work. That was why she was here, not to pick up handsome soldiers, particularly when, as it seemed, they didn't want to be picked up.

The initial scan revealed the owner to be on a pay-as-you-go contract, their name not listed anywhere. Matt had flatly refused to simply call the number, arguing that they wanted to find this person, not push them underground. Jess was therefore working through every network, trying to find who the owner was registered with. It was a long task, but that didn't matter; just so long as she was working.

It also meant that she wasn't working through any paperwork, so she had no reason to visit the armoury, something that, for once, she was very glad of. Lester had tried to formulate a reason for her to go down there, but Jess was having none of it, claiming, quite rightly, that she wasn't his secretary or the Royal Mail.

She'd had a stream of visitors over the day, each with their own variation of the same thing; they hoped she was OK and she needn't worry because Becker was probably just tired/precautious/possessed by aliens. Frankly, though, Jess didn't want to think about it and thus created no reasons of her own. And she was happy with it like that.

She really was.

By the end of the day, she was almost nodding off in her seat and Abby and Connor had to help her home before she collapsed on her bed, exhausted. This was frustrating for Abby, who had prepared herself to sit with the brunette for an hour or five to find out _exactly _what was going on, and Connor, who had prepared lasagne. And a pretty good one too.

* * *

Becker woke the following morning. It took a moment for his mind to settled on reality before he began recalling the previous day. Instantly, he felt a twinge of guilt. He'd lifted Jess' hopes up and dashed them, through no fault of her own. Everyone was right, he was pathetic at romance.

The thought strengthened his resolve. He wasn't going to get involved with her. Every time he performed any form of emotional outpouring, someone, often Jess it seemed, got hurt. So no more. He could suppress any emotion, no matter how potent.

He busied himself for the rest of the morning, tidying up his house. Henry had packed up his own belongings ready to leave, so everything was now in a holding bay in the ARC. This left room for Becker to rearrange and straighten the place out, as well as checking he hadn't lost anything.

By the end, he felt like he'd completed something and was ready to settled down for lunch. He set down the kettle and popped an egg onto boil, just in time for the phone to ring.

It wasn't an anomaly, thankfully; Becker hadn't worked out how he would cope with Jess wittering away in his ear like she normally did... in an adorable way. Instead, it was an unknown number, so Becker answered with caution.

'_Hello? Captain Becker?' _It was not a voice Becker recognised.

"Speaking."

'_Hello. I'm Daniel Cresent. I saw your advert in the paper this morning and was wondering if I could get more details on the house. Maybe come look around?'_

"Not a spy, are you?" Becker said, a private joke for himself. There was an awkward pause and Becker sucked in a breath. "Sorry. Of course you can. When are you available?"

'_Erm... well tomorrow I have cricket, but the next morning maybe?'_

"I work," responded Becker.

'_Oh, it's Monday then. Sorry. I'm out of step with the days of the week at the moment. Job seeking. Erm... I mean, I can do later today, but I realise that's fairly short notice. Maybe...'_

"Today would be fine."

'_Oh awesome. Erm... five o'clock say. Is that OK?'_

"Absolutely," replied Becker. "I'll... see you then."

He hung up. Daniel sounded nice and straight, although Becker decided to use the four hours to see if he could get a background check done. He cursed himself as he realised he hadn't done the same for Henry, so distracted by his back and Jess...

That was why he couldn't date her. He couldn't be distracted. And she was one hell of a distraction.

* * *

**Oh dear, Becker is slipping away. Please review.**


	9. Chapter 9: Tuna Bake

**Hello. Sorry my update rate has slowed and, even worse, my review responses have been a little... non-existent. Life is crazy and the past couple of days have been compounded by the fact I've not been very well. I will reply to reviews sent at some point, promise.**

** Anyway, on with the story and Becker's next flatmate. Enjoy!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval. Lost the deeds down the back of my sofa.  
**

* * *

Daniel arrived at precisely five o'clock. He was about Becker's age, brown hair with casual brown trousers. He smiled pleasantly as the Captain opened the door and loitered for a few seconds, discussing the state of the garden; he was, of course, more polite than honest, but Becker accepted the mild praise and allowed him inside.

The background checks had discovered nothing untoward. Daniel was a Politics graduate and was currently looking for work among one of the major parties. When the most wild thing a person has done in his life is join a debating team, you know you're safe.

That said, he wasn't boring, able to entice Becker into conversation about this and that, from plants to the state of the roads. Ok, so Daniel did most the talking, but he was always pausing, ready to allow Becker to have his input, but moved on seamlessly when Becker found himself at a loss. This made the chatter free and easy and last a while.

Eventually though, Daniel coughed awkwardly.

"Erm... so, can I see the rest of this place?" Becker winced as he realised that his guest had been in the place almost an hour, but that so far, they'd only reached the kitchen. He nodded and prepared to give a guided tour, one he'd grown used to over the last few weeks.

* * *

"Jess! Do you fancy tuna bake or spaghetti carbonara with penne instead of spaghetti?"

Jess smiled gently and made her way out her room, where she'd spent most of Saturday reading a light-hearted book. In hindsight, however, it would have probably been a good idea not to read a rom-com and the book left her feeling rather bereft at the romance she would be missing out on. What's more, nowhere, through all of Charlotte Millar's forays into love, were there dinosaurs ruining the dates.

"Hmmm... let's try tuna, shall we?" she replied, as perkily as possible.

She entered the kitchen where Connor and Abby were beginning the evening cooking. The two moved around one another in the space like they were dancing. There was no doubting the chemistry as their movements were perfectly timed, Abby reaching around Connor, then they twirled past each other before Abby gracefully ducked the tin of tunas which he was casually throwing around.

Jess stepped in to catch one of them. This was true love. None of this fooling around and worrying about whether they were right for one another. She sighed.

Abby heard the sigh and instantly paused as she added the flour to the butter in the saucepan. Looking up at Jess, she saw the wistful expression on the other woman's face. It wasn't hard to guess what it was about.

"He'll see sense soon enough." Jess jolted, startled that she was so transparent. "He's just worried that he'll let you down."

"What? How can he think that?" Abby raised an eyebrow. "Ok, so maybe the wine thing could've been more subtle. But Abby, it was horrible. So dry and sour."

"And you couldn't have just said something," suggested Connor, who was busy beginning to cook the pasta.

Jess' eyes widened. "Oh no! That's terribly impolite. Besides, it would've hurt his feelings."

"Action Man has feelings?" murmured Connor under his breath. Abby flicked a piece of tuna at him.

"Jess, you _did_ hurt his feelings. Honesty is the best policy, especially in relationships. I thought you'd learnt that."

"You mean like you and Connor." The couple shared a glance.

"Exactly."

"And his Star Wars T-shirt?" Abby froze, while Connor turned slowly.

"The one Rex got at?" He frowned when Jess raised her eyebrows and pouted, folding her arms as she studied Abby.

Abby blushed. "Yeah..."

"Abby?"

"I didn't realise that was what it was. I just split some cocoa on it and when trying to wash it out it caught on the tap in the sink." Connor's shoulders fell. Abby stopped her cooking and placed both hands on his forearms. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied." Connor looked into her eyes and bit his lip before sighing.

"You owe me a T-shirt then," he eventually said. Abby smiled.

"Like you owe me a white dress," she reminded him candidly.

"Quits."

"Quits." The pair returned to work as Jess surveyed the scene. "Another thing is to recognise each other's faults."

"And for Action Man, that's showing more emotion than, well..." Connor paused. "An action man."

"Still means I need a date for this wedding. Connor, you sure you're busy?"

Connor was about to reply when Abby's phone rang. The blond reached for it and answered.

"Hello... Matt... There's been no anomaly... Becker what?" Jess' breath caught as images of the Captain in danger flashed through her mind. Connor sent a glance in her direction; really, how could the two stay apart? "Yeah, we'll be there right away."

"The food will be ruined," Connor groaned, though he quickly turned the heat off and headed off to grab his kit.

"What's happened? Is Becker OK?"

Abby looked at the worried Jess and took a breath in.

"Not exactly."

* * *

They completed the downstairs fairly slowly as Daniel inspected the back garden too. Obviously if he was to live here, Becker would suddenly have a garden he could actually present to visitors. They made their way upstairs and Becker let Daniel into the spare room.

"Impressive. Erm... does it stay warm in Winter?" Becker nodded. "Phew. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's being cold in bed." Daniel paused. "Too much information?" Becker smirked ad Daniel grinned.

The graduate made his way to the window, but as he reached it, he stopped in his tracks. He paled slightly, causing Becker to frown. He went to the window.

And swore. Sitting upon the roof of his car, moreorless crushing it, was a large dinosaur, snapping at the people who were scampering away. It began to root around through the gaps appearing in the hard metal top, sniffing around in the car seats.

Becker's heart fell slightly as he watched thee nodding dog Jess had (misguidedly) bought him for saving her and Scott being tossed onto the pavement. He shook his head; that was not the worst thing about this situation.

"Erm... neighbour's pet got out?" asked Daniel nervously. Becker looked round as if startled by the other man's appearance, before grabbing his arm and tugging them both away from the window.

He needed to get Daniel out and reach his EMD, though possibly not in that order. He thought for second. His EMD was in that crushed car. OK, definitely in that order.

"We need to leave out the back," he ordered. "But first..."

After a short phone call to Matt, the pair left the bedroom and started to creep downstairs. Daniel allowed the Captain to go first, though this was mainly due to fear.

It was halfway down that the front door suddenly flew off its hinges, smashing against the wall, chipping some paint. A head appeared, shaking its way through the empty space. Becker checked around and saw that Daniel had immediately backed up. He knew he couldn't leave the graduate alone, so forced himself to step back.

The action caught the eye of the creature, who launched itself through the door, ripping out part of the framework and causing plaster to shower over the carpet. Daniel yelped and fled back up the stairs, but upon reaching the top, realised he didn't know where to go. He dived in through the nearest door.

Becker, meanwhile, was trying to slow the dinosaur down, knowing Matt would still be several minutes away. He scrambled up the stairs and stuck an arm into his room. Pulling out a lamp which usually sat on his desk, he snapped the lead like a whip, catching the beast upon its nose. It jerked backwards, a tickle of blood beginning to pour from where the plug had dug in.

However, it didn't give up. Instead, it lurched up a couple of steps, more angry than before. Becker swung the lamp around the edge shattering as it met the scaly skin at the side of it face. Thrusting the rest of the lamp down, the Captain leapt after Daniel as the dinosaur struggled in the wire that had entangled itself around its legs.

Becker slammed the door behind him and pulled the lock across. He then sank down beside Daniel, who was a quivering mess upon the floor, eyes widened in fear. Becker couldn't really blame him. A dinosaur had cornered them; it wasn't the usual pest control warning with a house.

"Do you think it'll leave if it can't see us?" he asked hopefully.

"Probably not," replied Becker honestly. "I think it's got my scent, possibly yours too." He looked around. Why did Daniel have to dive into the bathroom? It only had a small window, far too tiny for either of them. He didn't voice his displeasure though; now wouldn't be the time.

"How would you know?" Becker paused, unsure of how to answer. Daniel then continued. "In fact, you don't seem that... surprised."

"Not... not really," admitted Becker. He looked to Daniel, whose face was a picture of fear and alarm.

"_You _deal with dinosaurs. Are you insane?!" Becker didn't speak, definitely unsure of how to answer. "And now one's outside the door and it's going to eat us and..."

Daniel shrieked as there was a thump against the door. A few splinters began to show and Becker realised it wasn't going to last. Weapon, he needed a weapon. Unfortunately, the most viscous thing there was a toothbrush and he was sure the creature wasn't that scared of the dentist.

There was another thump and this time the door caved. Daniel yelled and scrambled to the back of the bath tub and Becker watched the dinosaur peer round at its two prey.

* * *

**Please review.  
**


	10. Chapter 10: A Bit of a Mess

**Hello. Gosh, I can barely believe it has been a week since I last updated, but anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval. At any time or any place.**

* * *

"Hurry!" urged Jess as she strained at the seat belt. She'd been persuaded not to drive, even though she assured both her flatmates that she could keep her cool to do so, but this just made her the worst backseat driver possible. Abby ignored her though as she dutifully pulled up to the junction and waited.

"Jess, come on. It's hardly the first time Becker has been surprised by a dinosaur and he's managed to keep his cool in the past."

The blond concentrated on keeping Jess calm, a distraction to mask her own fears; this sort of thing may have happened before, but that didn't make it any less dangerous. Connor seemed to sense her worry though and gently leaned across the squeeze her arm. She smiled at the gesture.

* * *

Becker took a step back as the creature snarled, saliva dripping off its front teeth. It couldn't fit through the door, he knew, but it came far enough to reach the other side of the bathroom. Daniel was pressing himself into the far wall, shivering.

Becker took another step and came up against the basin. He reached behind him and grabbed the first thing that came to hand. Hurling the soap dish, it clattered off the dinosaur's face, breaking in two. It flinched, but then lunged. Becker feinted to the right, feeling the jaw brush past his sleeve.

He grabbed another object. Deodorant. Whipping off the lid, he targeted the eyes of the beast, holding and holding until the air was thick with the smell and a cloud ballooned up, fogging up every surface. Daniel found himself caught in a coughing fit, but the dinosaur suffered worse. Blinded, it crashed against the door frame, almost ripping it from the wall. Its pain was clear.

Becker grabbed at other bottles. The shampoo was next, coating the face of the creature. Then, shaving foam, shower gel and the aftershave his mother had bought him the previous Christmas. By the end, the dinosaur looked as if it had been given a makeover by a toddler, product dripping all over the floor making it slick.

It shook its head, dislodging a large amount of the liquids and roared so loudly that Becker couldn't hear properly once it had finished. Instead, he just watched as the creature drew back and lunged once more.

It then jolted several times and began to waver. Blinking slowly, it lost interest in the two men, pulling back. A few more jolts and it toppled over. Becker took a couple of seconds to catch his breath before he gingerly moved forward, peering over the top of the fallen creature.

Matt climbed the final couple of stairs and grinned as he saw the Captain, while bewildered, was physically OK. He lowered his EMD, satisfied the creature was unconscious.

"You didn't answer your doorbell," he complained. Becker sighed and shook his head. "Who's this?" Matt nodded toward Daniel who hadn't moved from his place in the bath.

"This... is Daniel. He came to look around the room," explained Becker, looking around at the quivering man. He extended a hand, which Daniel ignored as he climbed out.

"What... What... What..." he stuttered.

"Escaped... zoo animal," suggested Matt.

"Do I look stupid?" snapped Daniel, his daze broken by his anger. "That... thing isn't from any zoo on this Earth! And you!" He turned to Becker. "This is what you deal with! I..." He shook his head. "I'm leaving."

He grabbed his bag and pushed past the two men, keeping as much distance as he could form the dinosaur. Matt went to stop him, but Becker prevented him; it was hardly as if Daniel was about to listen to reason or a cover story right now. It was also unlikely he'd take the room.

"Becker!" came a shrill cry and Becker saw Jess, Abby and Connor appear at the door. "What's happened? Are you OK? Is anyone hurt?" Jess' questions came in a long stream and, just for a second, Becker allowed himself to smile slightly at the young woman's babbling. He quickly caught himself though. He wasn't getting involved. And he would remind himself of that fact every time he thought of her.

* * *

"They deal with dinosaurs. You wanted him dead, I thought that would be a good way to..."

"There was no anomaly. Have you considered the fact that a rather large Sarcosaurus simply appearing may seem slightly innocuous?" The older man huffed. "It didn't even work."

The two men stood behind the giant cooling tank, the dusk light casting their shadows high onto the metals. They kept their voices low, though neither were too concerned with hiding their presence. They did have, after all, every right to be there.

"I'll try something else. Maybe poison..."

"No."

"But..."

The older man rounded upon the younger. "Captain Becker is a strong, healthy man. If he drops down dead, there'll be questions, tests. I do not need a murder investigation sniffing around our work. Now you will get rid of him, subtly, discreetly and in a way that no-one will think twice about. Is that understood?"

The younger man nodded, disgruntled, before the two parted.

* * *

"Well, this is a bit of a mess," commented Lester as he sat, slumping, behind his desk. "You know I do have better things to do over a weekend than come to work." He glanced between Matt and Becker, the former who stood his ground, while the latter gave off an air of faint embarrassment. "Now, can anyone explain to me why we didn't detect that anomaly?"

"There wasn't one," replied Matt. Lester raised his eyebrow. "That dinosaur appeared outside Becker's house; it's the kind of coincidence you can't ignore."

"So you're saying it's likely to be linked to Lawrence and Henry? Oh, on that note, we discovered Lawrence's phone number at Henry's house by his telephone. Freshly used."

Matt thought for a second before replying. "It would appear Lawrence alerted Henry of the opportunity."

"It would make sense. Lawrence was obviously ordered to steal those codes, but I assume he'd want to make as much money out of this as possible," suggested Becker.

"So he contacts Henry, let's him know of a target and takes a cut," realised Lester. "But why break in here? And badly at that. Pretty sure Rex could get round this place with more stealth than that."

There was silence as the three men mulled the question over. It was late evening now and the ARC was almost empty, except for those on security shift, Malcolm and Jess, Abby and Connor, who were settling in the new member of the menagerie.

"Maybe..." said Matt eventually. "Maybe because he didn't know what to expect." The others looked at him puzzled. "Ok, so he steals the codes to order. That shows that this place is important in some way and has something. Something valuable. So he takes his chances, breaks in. Suddenly finds himself against our security staff on high alert, far more than he bargained for."

"Our security staff and a clipboard," mused Lester. "Well, that would stop any burglary."

"But that still leaves the main perpetrator out there," Becker pointed out. "I'll step up our security."

Matt nodded. "Meanwhile, be careful. It would seem someone is out to get you."

* * *

It took Becker two weeks to sort his house out. The front and bathroom door, the carpet up the stairs and several tables had to be replaced, as well as a severe scrub of the bathroom to avoid any prehistoric illnesses lurking around.

In that time, Becker stayed with hostel about half a mile from where he lived, refusing invitation from Abby, Connor, Jess and even Lester. Matt made his excuse about having a relative over and it would be rather awkward, which was surprising as Becker had never heard him mention any family previously.

The problem was he couldn't face sharing space with Jess and, rather than say it, he rejected everyone unanimously. He regretted the way he'd done things; it was clear she was hurt by it, despite the brave face she enacted, but now it was clear someone was after him, he had no wish to drag her into it. For now, he'd use that excuse.

It also gave him a break from trying to find a flatmate. The release from this pressure was immense and he began to wonder if it was such a good idea to have some there, but he knew he couldn't afford the rent that way.

Two weeks went by and, with the house in order, he put out another advertisement through a letting agency. It was more expensive, but at least he knew that letting agency wouldn't let _anybody _view their records and he would, just once, get someone who actually needed somewhere to live.

Another week and two anomalies went by. Then one Friday afternoon, the call came.

Jason moved in within week. He seemed normal enough, well-built and muscular, but he'd joined Becker for a morning jog and the pair gelled fairly easily, Becker mild manner matching Jason's more passionate nature.

Another week later, he was still there.

* * *

**Reviews please =-)**


	11. Chapter 11: The Dancing Dinosaur

**Hello. Sorry for the slight delay, but I completely forgot to upload it – a novel excuse, but it's been a busy week. Anyway, now we get back to action, intrigue and dinosaurs. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval. Am I the only one?**

* * *

The following Tuesday began as any other; the anomaly alert went off. The team all bundled into the SUV, Becker sparing a glance for Jess as she began co-ordinating the response. Their hands caught, but nothing was said. That was until the blackbox slipped from his grasp. It tumbled to the floor and Jess swung round sharply to see what the noise was. Looking down, Becker sighed, but as he went to pick it up, he found Jess' hand, beating his to it. The woman stood.

"Be careful. Lester doesn't like Government property damaged," she commented as she fixed it onto his belt. "There." She looked up smiling.

"I can manage," insisted Becker. Her smile faltered slightly, but recovered as he said "I'm not actually three."

"Prove it," she challenged. Becker smiled and ran off. No no no. He wouldn't be distracted by this young, brilliant girl.

* * *

The anomaly was almost three hours away, but was hard to miss once the distance had been covered. Not only had it appeared in the middle of a cul de sac, beaming away just above several plastic bins, but it was also incredibly large.

"Blimey," breathed Connor as he approached with the locking device. "Could fit a diplodocus through that!" Becker sent him a sideways glance and Abby smiled as the scientist gulped. "Best to hope not though, right?"

"Lock it Temple," Becker ordered. Connor began to set up hurriedly, without another word being said.

He was just finalising the procedure when the anomaly began to flicker. Everyone paused in their tasks, silence ruling the cordoned-off road. Even Matt looked slightly alarmed; an anomaly like this could let almost anything through and knowing their luck that meant something nasty too.

Becker was the first break the tableau, raising his EMD. "Lock it Temple!" he repeated, this time more urgently. Connor unfroze and began desperately typing in the final codes as fast as his fingers could. It was too late though as out through the anomaly it emerged.

A baby triceratops. It was tiny, barely coming up above the garden wall it found itself suddenly in front of. The dinosaur mewed and there were several giggles from professionals who broke their work persona. Matt wasn't one of them though, as he saw the danger immediately.

"Quick! Scare it back through before the mother comes..."

There was a noise, like a low pitched wail as the beast, fully grown, began to stride out. The sight, to those not in immediate danger, was spectacular, the triceratops peering into first floor windows of the evacuated buildings.

For those in the way of the beast, however, the sight posed a deadly threat. Several of Becker's men dived for cover as the dinosaur plunged onwards. Becker threw himself to the ground as the body of the beast passed overhead, a foot landing inches from his head. Another leg sailed over and he remained on the floor.

Around the Captain, some shots were being discharged and sure enough the leg paused before it landed and kicked back. Becker rolled sharply to avoid another foot which was planted where his head had been. He tried to stand, but found his way blocked by the soft underbelly.

"BECKER!" a cry went up. "Concentrate your fire to the left for now. We must get her off Becker." This was followed by more intense firing, but this only served to aggravate the triceratops more and Becker found himself having to dodge and weave as the feet began dancing around.

Suddenly, he saw a gap in the madness and instinctively dived for the exit. He was almost out when he felt a whoosh of air and a thump across his skull. He was forced forward, sprawling on the ground as the world faded.

Abby watched in horror as Becker was knocked unconscious, but she knew there was nothing she could do to help until the dinosaur had retreated. She therefore concentrated her firepower on the task at hand using her small EMD; larger weapons couldn't be used for fear of crushing Becker and others.

Fortunately, the effects were beginning to show. The dinosaur backed up, her tail swishing in the anomaly. The baby was cornered, crying in fear as, with gentle persuasion, it was being manhandled and pushed back towards its home.

All seemed to be going well when there was a cry as one of the guides fell backwards, not concentrating on his own footing, and the baby broke loose. Rushing over to the parent, it went to hide behind her back legs, disappearing through the anomaly as it did so.

This distressed its mother, who turned to look for her young, tail waving out across the crowd who obediently ducked.

Abby, though, stayed still, eyes fixed upon Becker; until the dinosaur went through, he was in danger. Her fears were almost realised as the mother, surging forward, placed her foot heavily upon his beloved gun, which had fallen from his limp grasp, mashing the metal. The pain the triceratops felt was apparent as it roared out and broke into a run. It vanished as quickly as it came.

Abby lost no time in rushing over to Becker.

"I can't close the anomaly with him there!" shouted Connor urgently, so Abby, along with Matt dragged the body away so that the young scientist could complete the job and peace reigned once more.

* * *

"I suppose you're going to tell me that we're lucky it waited until we got there to come through?" commented Lester to the room in general.

"That would've been worst," replied Matt.

"You mean worse than my head of security being brought back as awake as a hibernating tortoise? Which, by the way, somehow means the loss of our field coordinator too." He waved at the empty chair. "I thought they weren't an item anymore, so why she feels she has to sit by his bedside on the pretence of monitoring the situation while everyone else is packing up, I don't know."

* * *

Becker regained conscious soon afterwards. He was surprised to find Jess waiting there. Not that he wasn't happy to see her, but such a blatant display of affection was not something he was expecting, especially after the way he'd treated her. He cringed at the thought.

Which he realised, as soon as he saw her face change, was the wrong thing to do.

"Are you OK?"she asked worriedly. "Shall I get the medics to give you some more pain killers?" She began to reach for the button to call for help, but Becker grabbed her hand. She looked at him startled and he realised his grip was too tight for the young women's slender wrists. He relaxed it, embarrassed.

"Jess, I'm OK," he reassured her. She fell back into her seat. "What's happening?"

She shrugged. "Nothing really. The others are just packing up. Hence I was the only one available to come... check on you."

"Oh, so you were asked," said Becker. That made more sense; the only thing which could be read into this was somebody's desire to trick him and Jess together and that wasn't anything surprising.

"No I volunteered," answered Jess. She blushed. "Just because I didn't want you to wake up alone. As a friend."

Becker was saved from working out what to say by the doctor walking in, curtailing the rest of the conversation as he put the Captain through a set of cognitive tests.

Jess hung around though, and did so for the rest of the afternoon. She knew it wasn't her place really but something in her couldn't leave Becker alone while he was in the medical bay.

It was therefore inevitable that something would come up to call her away but just before five o' clock Matt came walking in, a grim expression on his face.

"Jess, we've found the person who owns the phone number we found."

* * *

When Jess had made it clear that she wasn't returning that afternoon, the call out for Malcolm. The young man grudgingly came in early, but seeing as it wasn't his shift hours and he'd been awoken from his pre work nap, he'd decided to play about with the unlimited access the ADD allowed; being a skilled hacker, he was soon up to speed with who was dating who according to their Facebook and who had recently been promoted. He even found out how old Philip Burton was.

It was while he was mucking around that he noticed the number. It was a number he was well aware of, having been stuck on a post it note on the ADD desk for the last few weeks. Malcolm may be on night shift, but even he knew what the number was.

It was the phone number found on Lawrence. And now it was the contact number of one of Philip Burton's employees.

* * *

"Are you sure? What if someone is just using his number?"

"They're not," said Matt with a grave certainty. "This phone runs off an internal network within Prospero's buildings due to the lack of signal in many parts. The calls were almost definitely made while within there and there's little chance that someone got in there as well as using the phone."

"You think Philip is involved," started Abby. Matt shrugged.

"I don't know if Philip is involved, but I think we should let Lester know what we've discovered."

The team leader could barely hide his frustration; he was sure this was something to do with Burton and that the best way to deal with it would be to keep quiet and investigate further. But Malcolm had found it and Matt didn't know if he could be trusted so it had to go through official channels; if it was Philip's man at fault, Philip had to be informed, else their enquiry would be questioned as soon as Malcolm let information slip.

"So we tell Lester to tell Burton to investigate," said Abby. She looked less than happy either, an increasing caution growing in her about all dealings with the scientist. She sighed, but stood up, signalling the meeting was over.

* * *

**Please review.**


	12. Chapter 12: Home Sweet Home

**Hello. Well, I believe I left Becker in the medical bay. Again. I defend myself saying it's handy to know where he is. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or a medical bay, so I'm not profiteering from Becker's accidents.**

* * *

"You've been caught out," muttered Philip to Lewis. "You and that dinosaur stunt proved your downfall." Jacob Lewis gulped nervously; he knew the consequence of this and knew his boss could provide little protection. "Told you that was a stupid action to take," Burton reminded him. He huffed in annoyance. "And now I haven't got the information and the security hasn't been crippled. Our whole plan is in jeopardy."

"Oh come on. You'll find a way..."

"Not soon enough. I can't ask for those files; they'll want to know why I need them. And I daren't go after it again too soon; if it's traced back to me once more, their suspicions will be aroused." The older man looked at the younger. "This is a game. One you've just lost. Now, I'm giving you one chance. Run. As fast and as far away from here as possible."

Jacob shook his head. He wanted to be part of this, to provide a brighter future for his fiancée and any children they would have. He believed in what Philip had told him when he first entered the corporation, but he also knew the risks. He never thought it would happen though.

He had to leave and he knew he could hardly ask his wife-to-be to come with him.

He left the shadows of the water cooler. Looking back once, he saw Burton on his phone, calling for Prospero's security, saying that Jacob Lewis was trying to escape justice, that he must be stopped. Burton was creating his get-out clause.

And Jacob was his scapegoat.

* * *

Becker was being taken home, an event which was becoming far too regular as far as he was concerned. He didn't know what was wrong with him; normally he was always the person who could be relied upon to not be messed up, yet here he was, sitting in the back of someone else's car once more, a graze across his temple.

He'd heard yesterday that they'd traced the perpetrator, although he got away. A member of Burton's staff. Apparently the man had grown interested in making a little bit of money out the anomalies and was planning upon stealing some equipment to sell. He had a wedding to fund. Love can make us all fools Becker mused.

He glanced across to the person sat beside him. Jess had been there throughout the past couple of days whilst he was under observation. He couldn't express how that made him feel, apart from admitting that it was good to have the young woman around.

He was being to regret his outburst at her that night; he knew she deserved better than that, but he was just so sick of the past few weeks, which had turned into an endless cycle of spies, dinosaurs and flatmates that he could see it was inevitable that he was going to snap at something. But now he'd had a rest and it seemed he'd finally found a flatmate, he kicked himself for doing it at Jess.

The wedding hadn't been mentioned by her, but he knew it must be getting near the reply deadline as he'd overheard Abby telling Connor he'd need a new suit for a wedding.

Connor and Jess. Even in his reluctant mind it didn't make sense.

Abby pulled up outside his house and jumped out.

"Come on," she said as she caught the jacket Connor threw at her. "I'm going to make sure this Jason knows you aren't allowed to come in tomorrow."

He smiled a small knowing smile at Jess, who giggled at the otherwise resigned expression he wore."Want some tea?" he asked.

"Yes please," interrupted Connor who climbed out of the car too. The four of them go out and went to go inside.

Before they reached the door, Jason opened up. He took in the tiny crowd and coughed awkwardly, stepping back to allow Abby inside. The blond greeted him as she walked past, Connor in tow. When Jess went through his smile faltered though as he took in the bright smiling face and colourful clothes. Becker came in last.

They all settled in the kitchen.

"So, you must make sure he," Abby pointed at Becker. "... doesn't leave this house over the next few days."

"And if he starts seeing yellow eyed monsters, call for help," added Connor. Jason smile widened a little.

"And who should I call for help?" He scanned round to Jess. "You maybe?" He moved closer. Everyone tensed. Becker began to gather up his and Connor's empty mug, ready for to wash up as a distraction.

"Me?" Jess tried to laugh the comment off. "I'm not sure I could help you. I'm not a medic." Jason ignored the rest of the room and concentrated upon the uncomfortable Jess, who grew nervous with the stares.

"I'm sure you could patch up any wounds," he added smoothly. "And not just on the honourable Captain over there, but..."

"I'm so sorry, I'm going to have to cut you off," interrupted Jess briskly, not liking the direction of the conversation or the way Jason's hand was sneaking towards her thigh. "Becker, where's your bathroom?"

"Upstairs..."

"I'll show you," cut in Jason and before anyone could help her, Jess was being guided by her arm towards the stairs. Abby looked in helplessly, before leaning over the counter.

"Do something!" she hissed at Becker, who was silent. "Becker, Jason's going to ask her out and we'll be right back to where we were before with Jess and Scott. Do you want that? Really?"

"I had my chance," he muttered sullenly. "And I blew it." He looked over at Abby with a forlorn expression. "Abby, Jess needs to find someone new."

"Becker, you didn't blow it until you gave up. Nothing that went wrong that night was your fault. And Jess obviously doesn't want this guy's attention, so come to her rescue before she's persuaded otherwise." There was silence as Becker gathered up the rest of the mugs and, turning his back on the other two, began to wash them up.

Abby felt like knocking him around the head.

"Why don't you just return the favour then?" she demanded desperately. Becker looked round at her curiously. "You used her to get rid of unwanted attention. Now get rid of the equally undesired attention directed at her."

"You don't know it's undesired."

"One glance was enough to be sure. She was squirming!"

Becker didn't reply. He didn't like the way things were turning out any more than Abby, but he didn't know the boundaries involved. Did he have the right to prevent other men from approaching Jess? He had an idea the answer was no and having got things onto a fairly comfortable foundation again, he was unwilling to risk hurting her feelings.

"If you're so sure," he said eventually. "Then you ward him off."

Abby had no reply; granted there was no reason she couldn't help, but she was struggling for a way of doing so. Her mind was revolving around the opportunity of a repeat performance between these two, albeit with the roles reversed and a different result.

* * *

"So, your man got away?" asked Lester nonchalantly, leaning over the barrier outside his office. He had remained behind slightly later than usual just to meet Burton, in the wake of the revelations.

"Unfortunately so. James, I can't tell you how embarrassed I am at the breach. I hope Captain Becker is not too perturbed by these events." The scientist raised a small smile. "Though he does not strike me as a man easily output."

Lester recognised the throwaway compliment for what it was. A pitiful attempt to play down the damage caused by a fault in Burton's own systems. He also recognised he could only agree.

"The Captain is a remarkably resilient character, it must be said." Lester turned his back on the railings, buttoning up his jacket to draw the conversation to a close. "Although I feel he would appreciate it if it didn't happen again. So would the Minister."

The civil servant broke away, knowing that just for once, just once, he was able to leave having won the unspoken battle. Philip was at fault, but the ARC had covered for it.

* * *

The standoff was broken by the return of Jess and Jason.

Jess was politely giggling at something Jason had said, the man gently resting his hand upon the small of her back. Abby made a decision in that moment of how she could help. She subtly kicked Connor underneath the counter and the young scientist looked round sharply at her. Taking in his girlfriend's face, he swung back round to the others.

"Jess, we should be going," he said stiffly. "Don't want to miss the... Ten o'clock news," he finished weakly, unable to think of the good excuse. The party therefore broke up, with Abby giving an additional warning to Becker about taking things easy and a pointed reference of 'but not too easy'.

Jason attempted to help Jess on her cardigan she had lazily taken off, but the pair found themselves tangled up soon enough and so Becker had to step in to avoid any ripping. Jess smiled properly at him, then flashed a weak thank you at his flatmate, before following her own flatmates to the car.

It was just as the car pulled away that Jason turned excitedly to Becker, eyes alive.

"Jess gave me her number," he said smugly.

* * *

**Please review. Else who knows what havoc Jason will cause? (Yes, that's a threat ;-) )**


	13. Chapter 13: The First Aid Kit

**Hello. A tiny delay; I apologise. Especially when leaving Jason annoying Jess. Best I'd better let this chapter be started.**

**Small admin: Thanks to the guest reviewer since I can't message you. I agree the flatmate is creepy. **

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval..lavemirP nwo t'nod I**

* * *

"YOU DID WHAT?!" cried Abby, as Jess tried to ignore her and concentrate on unlocking their front door. "You gave him your number? Why did you do that? You are _not _going out with Becker's flatmate again, not after last time. Especially him. He couldn't keep his hands on you. What on earth did you see in him?"

"It wasn't that," Jess insisted. "Abby, you weren't upstairs. He asked again and again and then said he wouldn't leave the bathroom, which he followed me into, until I did and Abby..." The brunette looked at the blond. "I really needed to go."

Connor went past. This was a little too girly for him and he knew any minute he'd be asked for his opinion, not that either girl would listen to his answer. He hurried off in the direction of his room. Then again, if they both agree Jason wasn't the sort of man to go out with maybe he was safe.

"Connor", began Abby. Maybe not. "Can you think of any other way to get a person out of a bathroom rather than giving them your number?"

"Erm... dropping your trousers?"

"CONNOR!" exclaimed both girls. He beat a hasty retreat, but honestly, what was he meant to say?

The girls continued their conversation.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the doorbell went. Abby went to answer it and was surprised butt who she found, though not, but judging his embarrassed expression, as surprised as the Captain was. It was then she noticed his dishevelled hair, the trickle of blood running down his forehead, a few bruises on his arms and a few cuts on his knuckles. There was a pause until Becker worked out that he had better explain himself.

"Is Jess in?" he asked. His cheeks were slightly reddened and a soft, hopeful smile spread across Abby's face. "Don't," he said upon seeing this. The smile fell. "Please, I just need to... I don't know..."

Just then, Jess came looking for her friend. She froze when she saw Becker standing there, not in uniform and looking as though he'd been in a fight.

"What happened?" she exclaimed in fright. "Did someone attack you? Have they got the wrong man with Lewis?" Becker shook his head and winced at the sensation this gave. Abby opened the door wider, gesturing for the Captain to enter. Abby went off to grab a bowl of water and a cloth for Becker's cut, while Jess guided him to their sofa.

"It wasn't anything to do with Lewis…" Becker paused, as if he didn't quite know whether to say what he was going to. "At least, I don't think so." He looked Jess in the eye. "It was Jason."

"Jason!" gasped Jess. Abby placed the bowl on the table and Jess began to clean up the soldier while she went off for a first aid kit. She very gently worked round some bruises on his face, pausing every so often to rewet the cloth.

"I told him he couldn't have your number." There was a silence and Jess broke off her work. "You obviously didn't want him to have it. Didn't you." A veneer of doubt entered his voice. "Abby… I thought…"

"I didn't want to give it to him," Jess reassured him. Becker smiled, glad his bruises weren't for nothing.

"Anyway, it turns out Jason can get rather violent when annoyed. More violent than I gave him credit for." He grimaced and sighed. "He managed to break several chairs… and my mugs… and as for the sofa…"

"You did this for me?" Jess uttered, barely believing it. "But we…"

"I know. I have no place to involve myself in your love life, especially after I mucked it up before…" he trailed off and began to get up, but Jess placed a hand lightly on his forearm, requesting him to stay seated. She then picked up the cloth, as if cleaning his wounds was the main reason she just didn't want him to go.

"You didn't muck it up. The restaurant did, Henry and Lawrence did." She paused. "I did. I should've been honest about the wine." He stared at her.

"I meant messing up you and Scott."

Jess' eyes widened. No. No, he couldn't be so stupid as to blame himself for that. How could he be so… so self-deprecating?

Abby crossed the room behind them, muttering about Connor's stupid experiments with bandages. She then noticed the pair, settled in deep, wordless conversation and decided that perhaps a missing first aid kit shouldn't disturb them.

"Scott and I… we were never going to work out. I was deceiving him the whole time and that's my fault, not yours. You know the only thing that makes it your fault is the fact that I was thinking about you every date we went on. Just because I was doing it all to trick myself into thinking I could be happy without you. And I can't."

"Your dates were perfect."

"No they weren't. Ok, so there wasn't any criminals or spies involved, but there was none of the kick either that there should've been. None of the excitement that goes with…"

She hurriedly cut herself off, worried she'd been too open to the reserved Becker. She went back to squeezing the cloth out and absorbing some of the water.

"I hurt you," Becker said quietly.

"You thought you were being kind, keeping me out of trouble. Jess lifted his head to gain access to some dried blood on his neck.

"You think too much of me," he replied. She frowned. "I'm not good enough…" she silenced him with a look.

"Let me be the judge of that," she responded. "Please," she added pleadingly.

There was silence as Becker weighed the arguments. He was being targeted, he was useless at dates, he struggled to read all her thoughts and she was a distraction… he halted in that thought. Was she? He seemed expert enough at getting hurt over the past few weeks and it wasn't due to having a girlfriend on the phone line. In fact, Jess had been there to pick up the pieces and get him going again. And he needed that.

"Jess," he began. Her heart skipped a few beats. "You know after Lawrence was caught…"

"Forget it," she insisted. "You were just trying to…"

"No," he interrupted. "Not that. What you said." Her forehead creased, puzzled. "I owe you a drink," he reminded her. Fancy having a meal with it?" She grinned and he returned it, before sighing. Her face fell.

"What is it?" she asked alarmed. Had he changed his mind already?

"I need another flatmate." He placed his head in his hands. "So many problems…"

"Well, you've solved one," she replied happily. He looked at her curiously. "Captain Becker, will you accompany me to my friend's wedding?"

She asked him. Finally, the relief that washed over him for such a simple question was incredible. She was no longer looking to avoid him and there was no fear of it being awkward. Maybe it was too soon, but frankly, he thought, they needed their own pace; sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

"Of course. When is it?" She told him. "But that's... that's months away! I thought it was next week, judging by how worried you've been."

She giggled and shook her head. "Nope. But I'm meant to reply by tomorrow. They are _very_ organised people. I remember..."

And they sat there, discussing old school friends under two watchful gazes.

"Wow. Action man doesn't have a plastic heart," commented Connor.

"Or a plastic brain," agreed Abby. She rested her head upon his chest. "Finally." He moved away, making her look round.

"Possibly." He jumped onto their bed, legs crossed.

"What do you mean, possibly?" she asked, suddenly worried. It was like he wasn't telling her something.

"You heard," he replied. "He's needs a new flatmate. Who's to say that this one isn't going to turn out to be some alien with mind-controlling powers, ready to steal Jess away?"

"Connor..." she groaned.

But the fear was now set inside her. Connor was right, in a way. Until Becker was settled with a flatmate, anything could go wrong, as had happened before. All it would take is another security scare and Becker would run for the hills... without Jess. Just to keep her safe. If it could somehow be sorted that the pair had just a month of normality to themselves, they'd be OK, Abby was sure. It was sorting that normality though.

"We need to find him a flatmate. Someone we can trust. And possibly someone who isn't freaked out by dinosaurs; I'm not convinced Becker is fully safe yet."

The pair thought for a minute; there had to be somebody, even if 'people who wouldn't be freaked out by a dinosaur' were in short supply.

"Got it," said Connor, sitting up with a jolt. Abby looked at him dubiously. "You pretend to be pregnant, Jess moves in with him to make way for the baby." He paused. "Then, we find a baby."

"Connor! NO!"

He slumped back down again. There was more silence as they sifted through everyone in the ARC; these were the most likely people to be across the whole dinosaur thing. They could hardly inform Lester that they'd broken the Secrets Act just to get Becker a flatmate. Connor paused at that thought. The Secrets Act.

"Abby..." said Connor. His girlfriend looked at him. "I've had an idea." Her believing face told the whole story. "No no no. You'll like this one."

* * *

**Please review. (No blackmail this week, but please review anyway.)**


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